Social Isolation Is Bad for Your Health

November 26, 2008

Posted by Maggie Spilner

Just as laughing can improve your health, loneliness can impair it. In his new book, Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection, author John Cacioppo says that loneliness leads to high levels of the stress hormone cortisol, poor immune function, high blood pressure and depression. Lonely people may have trouble getting enough sleep and a faster progression of Alzheimer’s disease. And, unfortunately, too often, people get stuck in their feelings of loneliness or rejection, with high levels of anxiety and fear that lead them to become even more socially isolated.

Loneliness feels like hunger, Cacioppo says. It’s a signal that something bad is happening. You’re supposed to respond by seeking out connection. The key is to realize that the solution lies “not in being fed, but in cooking for and enjoying meals with others,” he says. Lonely people need to overcome fear and other negative feelings and find ways to reconnect.

Losing a spouse, caring for a spouse with Alzheimer’s or a severe disability, moving to new community to be near a child and in the process losing your social network, losing a job that had been your major contact with other people — aging brings many scenarios that can catapult people into loneliness and possibly, depression.

Getting medical help for depression or social anxiety may be the first steps to getting back into the swing of social relatedness. But you might also want to plan ahead for a time when you may be living alone. Join groups that offer connection through your interests or hobbies, become active in politics, the local arts scene or social welfare, join a religious community, find senior centers that stimulate new ideas and activities, go back to school. Even learning to surf the web and connect with others in cyberspace can help. There are many ways to stay connected or to reconnect. It takes giving as well as receiving. And your health depends on it.

The Anti-Aging Bottom Line: The pain of loneliness is a signal that you should pay attention too. These feelings can lead to high levels of the stress hormone cortisol, weakened immunity and stress-related illnesses. If you are feeling lonely, it is important that you find a way to reconnect, whether it means getting medical attention for depression or social anxiety, or seeking out opportunities to spend time with other people. If you know you will be living alone, plan ahead to ensure that you will be involved in activities that foster social connectedness.