Healthcare (Commonwealth Union) – Loneliness, often an overlooked and misunderstood human condition, has become a growing epidemic in the modern world. Its impact on mental and physical health is as detrimental as any physical ailment, yet it remains largely invisible and neglected. With the rise of digital communication and the decline of traditional social structures, loneliness has become a pervasive issue affecting people from all walks of life. The definition of loneliness is subjective, as it is a deeply personal experience. However, it is generally characterized by an emotional state of isolation, solitude, and the perceived lack of companionship or meaningful connections.
Loneliness may be detrimental to our daily health, as seen in a new study by researchers from the Penn State College of Health and Human Development and the Center for Healthy Aging. This study delves into the nuances of loneliness and how daily variations in loneliness impact both short- and long-term well-being. The researchers assert that their findings bolster the 2023 statement by U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, which highlighted the severe impact of loneliness and isolation on physical health, labeling it a public health crisis.
Published in the journal Health Psychology, the study also draws attention to the different experiences of loneliness, coinciding with Loneliness Awareness Week from June 10-16.
According to the surgeon general, the long-term health consequences of loneliness and insufficient social connections include a 29% increased risk of heart disease, a 32% increased risk of stroke, and a 50% increased risk of developing dementia in older adults. Furthermore, people who frequently feel lonely are more prone to depression and other mental health issues compared to those who rarely or never experience loneliness.
The current study found that loneliness can lead to adverse health symptoms even in individuals who do not generally identify as lonely. Those who experience temporary or fluctuating feelings of loneliness are likely to face daily health problems related to loneliness, such as general fatigue, headaches, and nausea.
The data consists of 1,538 participants from the National Study of Daily Experiences (NSDE), part of the MacArthur Foundation Survey of Midlife in the United States. The study is led by David Almeida, a professor of human development and family studies at Penn State and the senior author of the paper. This specific study focuses on loneliness in midlife, using data from respondents aged 35 to 65. Previous research on loneliness has mainly concentrated on adolescents and older adults, according to the researchers.
NSDE participants took part in telephone interviews that evaluated their daily stress and mood over eight consecutive days. They were asked to give a definition of any stressful or positive situations they experienced and their feelings each day, including whether they felt lonely and how regular was it. Participants also reported any physical symptoms they experienced, such as general fatigue or headaches. These assessments were conducted twice, with a 10-year gap between them.
Based on this data, researchers discovered that participants with lower average loneliness levels, as well as those experiencing less loneliness than their average on specific days, had fewer and less severe physical health symptoms. Furthermore, participants who maintained a stable level of loneliness across the eight days exhibited less severe physical health symptoms.
“These findings suggest that day-to-day dynamics of loneliness may be crucial in understanding and addressing the health effects of loneliness,” explained Almeida. “Increasing feelings of social connection even for one day could result in fewer health symptoms on that day. Such a daily focus offers a manageable and hopeful micro-intervention for individuals living with loneliness.”
Dakota Witzel, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Center for Healthy Aging and the lead author of the paper, suggests that more focus should be given to daily, transient feelings of loneliness. Although prolonged loneliness can lead to long-term health consequences, as mentioned in the surgeon general’s advisory, these fleeting instances of loneliness can also result in short-term negative health effects.
“A lot of research is focused on loneliness being a binary trait — either you’re lonely or you’re not. But based on our own anecdotal lives, we know that’s not the case. Some days are worse than others — even some hours,” added Witzel. “If we can understand variations in daily loneliness, we can begin to understand how it affects our daily and long-term health.”
Karina Van Bogart, a Ph.D. candidate in Biobehavioral Health at Penn State, Erin Harrington, an assistant professor of cognition and cognitive development at the University of Wyoming, and Shelbie Turner, a postdoctoral fellow in the Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine, were all contributors to this study.
