LONELINESS CAN CAUSE PREMATURE DEATH

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MENTAL HEALTH

Loneliness can cause premature death

It is said that being unwanted is the most terrible poverty. And true to it, it is now becoming a public health concern.
Let us first start by defining these terms. What is social isolation? What is loneliness? Social isolation is lack of contact with other individuals and loneliness is the feeling that one is emotionally disconnected from others. In essence, a person can be in the presence of others and still feel lonely.
Julianne Holt-Lunstad, Ph.D., who is a professor of psychology at Brigham Yung University (BYU) and her colleges recently presented their findings at the 125th Annual convention of the American Psychological Association in Washington DC. The two new meta-analyses from BYU showed that loneliness and social isolation may increase the risk of premature death by upto 50%.


The first meta-analysis included more than 300,000 adults across 148 studies while the second comprised 70 studies involving more than 3.4 million adults.

“There is robust evidence that social isolation and loneliness significantly increase the risk for premature mortality and the magnitude of the risk exceeds that of many leading health indicators,” Julianne Holt-Lunstad, Ph.D.

According to her, one way to help overcome the loneliness epidemic is to put more resources into tackling loneliness among individuals and as a society. She suggested that more focus on social skills training for schoolchildren and that doctors should look to incorporate social connectedness in medical screening. She also added on older adults preparing on social implications and not just financial ones.

 



 

 

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