As scientific research over the past decade has shown, loneliness isn’t just a social problem, it’s a physical problem as well. Research on this topic has found a link between social isolation and a variety of physical and mental health conditions, including heart disease, high blood pressure, depression, and anxiety. Knowing this, some social critics are asking once unthinkable questions. Should social contact be treated as a basic need, on par with food, water, sleep, and shelter?
Research shows the answer is yes. One reason for this is that we now have a better understanding of how the human body responds to loneliness and, conversely, the negative effects of a lack of social connection. The same parts of the brain that are activated when we’re hungry are also activated when we’re lonely, according to a new study published by scientists in Psychological Science, the flagship journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
In this study, scientists investigated the effects of social isolation in two different settings: in the lab and at home during the coronavirus lockdown. The study involved 30 female volunteers who visited the lab three times and spent eight consecutive hours with no food, no social contact, or both food and social contact. Throughout the experiment, the women indicated when they felt stressed and experienced mood changes and fatigue. Scientists have recorded physiological stress responses such as heart rate and cortisol and found that they are similar to when you are starving for food.
“Our laboratory study reveals striking similarities between social isolation and food deprivation,” authors Ana Stijovic and Paul Forbes said in a joint press statement. “Both states caused decreased energy and increased fatigue, which is surprising given that food deprivation literally robs you of energy, while social isolation does not.”
“Lab research shows striking similarities between social isolation and food insecurity.”
Researchers suggest that the drop in energy experienced due to lack of social contact may be the beginning of the long-term negative effects of social isolation. The researchers compared their findings to similar studies conducted during the pandemic to validate their findings. The results suggest that long periods of social isolation create “social homeostasis” in the brain.
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“While it is well known that long-term loneliness and fatigue are associated, little is known about the direct mechanisms underlying this association,” Shirani said. “The fact that this effect is seen even after short periods of social isolation suggests that energy decline may be an adaptive response of ‘social homeostasis’, which becomes maladaptive in the long term.” there is a possibility.”
This finding is consistent with previous research that found a link between loneliness and hunger. In 2020, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology discovered that both loneliness and hunger share signals in the brain that control basic reward and motivational impulses, as well as the ability to connect with others. This suggests that the desire to eat is as essential as the desire to eat.
“Even though the quarantine period only lasted 10 hours,[ours]”Participants knew exactly when it was going to end. Participants reported feeling more lonely and craving social interaction at the end of the day than they had at the beginning.” concluded. Isolation is a significant departure from the typical rate of social interaction. ”
Remarkably, researchers say that rest and isolation can be good for us if we choose to do so. Still, they stressed that the open question of how much social interaction the brain needs to avoid feeling “hungry” is an open-ended question for researchers to answer.
“For highly connected people, a day of social isolation represents a significant departure from the typical frequency of social interactions.”
However, from the perspective of a potential social problem, loneliness is much more difficult to quantitatively measure than other social problems such as hunger, health care, and housing. In fact, there is a lot of confusion about the causes of loneliness. or lack of social contact, reaching a level where loneliness affects a person’s physical health, especially if the lonely person is physically constantly in the company of others. Of course, one cannot completely escape loneliness, as it is a natural part of the human experience. Or, as the French existentialists would say, “the human condition.”
But researchers are working on quantitative measures, such as the UCLA Loneliness Scale, that suggest there is an unhealthy tipping point.
“Feelings of loneliness have more to do with a person’s perception of whether they have enough meaningful relationships,” Kat Moore, director of belonging at the University of Southern California, previously told Salon. Psychologists say that thresholds vary from person to person and have nothing to do with how many friends or followers you have on Facebook or how many people you recognize when you go out and say “hello.” [them]. ”
Moore says relationships that reach a certain level need more work, and if that layer of a relationship isn’t met, feelings of loneliness can manifest in other mental and physical health issues. said.
In any case, when you feel lonely, Moore compared it to feeling hungry.
“Loneliness indicates that your social needs are not being met, just like when you’re hungry, your stomach tells you that you need food,” Moore said.
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