The Feeling of Loneliness: 4 Negative Impacts on Your Health
The feeling of loneliness is an emotional response to social isolation. It doesn’t require a person to be physically alone. Everybody likes to be on their own sometimes, but nobody wants to be lonely. Even though they seem similar, these two terms do not have the same meaning.
You could feel lonely even if you have many friends, a big family, or while you are involved in an emotional relationship. This unpleasant, anxious feeling usually develops when for some social, mental, or physical reason, the communication and connections with other human beings are interrupted.
Loneliness is a psychological mechanism that drives our desire for social interaction. However, this feeling can also leave consequences on physical health.
The Feeling of Loneliness and Health
Mental and physical well-being are deeply connected. It is easy to understand why chronic loneliness can affect mental health. It is associated with depression, anti-social and self-destructive behavior, and even suicidal thoughts.
The connection between loneliness and physical health, on the other hand, probably needs some more explaining. Over the years, researchers have discovered that, through different mechanisms, isolation can increase the risk of severe chronic conditions. Like, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and heart disease. It can also cause sleep problems and make vaccines less effective.
Let’s look at the top four adverse health effects of loneliness.
1. Loneliness Can Cause Physical Pain
Evolutionarily speaking, for most of human existence on Earth, we have lived in large social groups. It was an individual’s method of survival. As a part of a group, humans were stronger and had better access to food and shelter. People, without the protection of the group, were exposed to great dangers.
Being left out was a very negative thing. It certainly was not something one would look forward to or be excited about; being alone was a serious threat to survival. Therefore, it caused much stress.
Scientists believe that our brain has evolved to recognize social disconnection and loneliness as a physical threat. Research shows that physical pain and loneliness spark activity in the same areas of the brain. The levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, are significantly higher in lonely people. These levels remain elevated even during the night.
2. You Don’t Sleep Well When You Are Lonely
A study from 2011 shows a connection between loneliness and sleep disruption. It also proves that a lack of physical interaction does not cause loneliness.
Many subjects in this study were involved in regular social contact with their family members and partners. However, it was the personal perception of their social situation that was the cause of loneliness.
Researchers were even able to detect the subtle differences in sleep disruption patterns between subjects with different degrees of loneliness.
Short-term sleep disruption lowers the life quality of affected individuals. It increases stress response and emotional distress, causes mood swings, and affects memory.
Long-term sleep disruption increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, weight gain, and colorectal cancer.
3. Feeling Lonely Could Increase The Risk of Dementia
There is an established connection between loneliness and dementia. Again, it has nothing to do with living alone. Studies show that older adults who report feeling lonely are 64% more likely to suffer from dementia. However, scientists are still not entirely sure which of the two conditions is the cause and which one is the consequence.
4. Loneliness Can Cause Heart Disease and Cancer
Some experts suggest that there might be a genetic predisposition to loneliness. They blame the over-expression of specific genes for this. Particularly the genes responsible for the so-called “inflammatory response.”
It is a natural short-term response of many different tissues. In the long-term, however, it can cause heart disease and cancer.
There could be something good in this, however. If these suggestions are correct, in some cases, anti-inflammatory medications could be used to fight loneliness.
The Feeling of Loneliness, Bottom Line
Loneliness is an unwanted state of mind. It causes anxiety and depression. But loneliness does not stop here. The effects of this natural emotional response reach the body. It has the potential to do both physical as well as mental health damage.
About Author
