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The Health Consequences of Loneliness
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Loneliness Is a State of Mind
Loneliness, according to many experts, is not necessarily about being alone. Instead, if you feel alone and isolated, then that is how loneliness plays into your state of mind.
For example, a college freshman might feel lonely despite being surrounded by roommates and other peers.
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Causes
- Loneliness is strongly connected to genetics.
- Situational variables, such as physical isolation, moving to a new location, divorce and the death of someone significant in a person's life can also lead to feelings of loneliness.
- Loneliness can be a symptom of a psychological disorder such as depression.
- Loneliness can also be attributed to internal factors such as low self-esteem.
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Health Risks Associated With Loneliness
Loneliness has a wide range of negative effects on both physical and mental health, including:
- Depression and suicide
- Cardiovascular disease and stroke
- Increased stress levels
- Decreased memory and learning
- Antisocial behavior
- Poor decision-making
- Alcoholism and drug abuse
- The progression of Alzheimer's disease
- Altered brain function
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Close Friends Combat Loneliness
Experts believe that it is not the quantity of social interaction that combats loneliness, but it's the quality.
Having just three or four close friends is enough to ward off loneliness and reduce the negative health consequences associated with this state of mind.
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Loneliness can be overcome
It does require a conscious effort on your part to make a change.
Making a change, in the long run, can make you happier, healthier, and enable you to impact others around you in a positive way.
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Tips to Prevent Loneliness
- Recognize that loneliness is a sign that something needs to change.
- Understand the effects that loneliness has on your life, both physically and mentally.
- Consider doing community service or another activity that you enjoy.
- Focus on developing quality relationships with people who share similar attitudes, interests, and values with you.
- Expect the best. Lonely people often expect rejection, so instead focus on positive thoughts and attitudes in your social relationships.
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Loneliness before quarantine
We crave intimacy. And yet, long before the present pandemic, with its forced isolation and social distancing, humans had begun building their own separate cells.
Before modern times...
Loneliness is a form of grief
It is an umbrella term we use to cover for all sorts of things most people would rather not name and have no idea how to fix.
Plenty of people like to be alone. But solitude and seclusion are different from loneliness. Loneliness is a state of profound distress.
The evolutionary theory of loneliness
Primates need to belong to an intimate social group in order to survive; this is especially true for humans.
Separation from your group (either finding yourself alone or finding yourself among a group of people who do not know and understand you) triggers a fight-or-flight response.
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Recognize the impact of loneliness
According to the Campaign to End Loneliness, loneliness can be a...
Work out exactly why you are lonely
- someone either not having enough basic social contact or,
- despite being surrounded by people, not feeling understood, listened to or cared for.
Speak to someone
- Talk to friends and family.
- Join a club or socialize through hobbies or interests. It is a good way to meet new people and increase social interactions.
- Do voluntary work. It forges connections as well as makes you feel worthwhile.
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A public health problem
Most people consider loneliness a personal problem to be figured out by individuals.
However, a paper published in the American Journal of Public Health identi...
Don’t blame social media
Among the theories on why there is more loneliness today is more time online and less time in front of people.
However, levels of in-person interactions, physical and mental wellness and life balance are more likely to predict loneliness than social media usage.
Young and lonely
Generation Z (ages 18-22) had the highest loneliness scores, followed by the millennials (ages 23-37). The Greatest Generation (adults ages 72 and older) were the least lonely.
Lonely people are less able to pick up on positive social stimuli, like others’ attention and commitment signals, so they withdraw prematurely – in many cases before they’re actually socially isolated.