Nature Podcast
Audio long read: Why loneliness is bad for your health
Description
Loneliness can have detrimental effects on physical and mental health, with chronic loneliness being as harmful as obesity, physical inactivity, and smoking. It is linked to depression, dementia, cardiovascular disease, and early death. Around one quarter of adults worldwide feel very or fairly lonely. Loneliness alters various aspects of the brain and is subjective. It affects both older adults and young adults, and can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Temporary loneliness likely evolved as a survival strategy to motivate seeking company. Loneliness and hunger share similarities at the physiological level. Social activities and exercise can help alleviate loneliness.
Insights
Increasing access to social activities
Housing people in communities with common areas can help alleviate loneliness.
Exercise as a remedy for loneliness
Exercise can reverse feelings of low mood associated with loneliness and benefit those with high connectivity in their default networks.
Chapters
Loneliness and its Impact on Health
01:01 - 15:53
- Loneliness can have detrimental effects on physical and mental health.
- Chronic loneliness is as harmful as obesity, physical inactivity, and smoking.
- Depression, dementia, cardiovascular disease, and early death are linked to chronic loneliness.
- Around one quarter of adults worldwide feel very or fairly lonely.
- Loneliness alters various aspects of the brain, including volume and connections.
- Loneliness is subjective and different from social isolation.
- Lonely individuals are at higher risk of depression, high blood pressure, immune system dysfunction, and dementia.
- Loneliness is more prevalent among disadvantaged groups.
- The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated loneliness.
- Loneliness affects both older adults and young adults.
- Lonely people perceive the world differently and pay attention to different aspects of situations.
- Loneliness can become a self-fulfilling prophecy and spread through social networks.
- Temporary loneliness likely evolved as a survival strategy to motivate seeking company.
- Loneliness and hunger share similarities at the physiological level.
- Loneliness affects how the brain processes feelings of reward.
- Stress hormones could provide a link between loneliness and dementia.
- Social activities and exercise can help alleviate loneliness.
The Neural Mechanisms of Loneliness
06:37 - 13:58
- Lonely people have changes in brain connectivity and neural responses to social situations.
- The default network in the brain is affected by loneliness, especially in older people.
- Strong default networks may be linked to neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease.
- More research is needed to understand the neural mechanisms of loneliness.
Insights
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- Increasing access to social activities can help alleviate loneliness.
- Exercise can reverse feelings of low mood associated with loneliness and benefit those with high connectivity in their default networks.