2023-10-06 19:40:00
MIAMI.- He isolation social and soledadare two separate problems that are often linked, and tend to have different potential impacts on the physical and mental health of people, according to a study conducted by a researcher at Harvard University.
The study, published in the journal SSM – Population Health, determined that around 50% of Americans feel lonely. A trend that has been increasing in the last two decadesmodifying our environment and the way we relate to other people.
“We have good evidence that loneliness has increased in this country over the last two decades in at least moderate amounts for a substantial number of people,” explains research author Tyler VanderWeele, director of the Harvard Human Flourishing Program at the Institute of Quantitative Social Sciences.
Social isolation
In an interview in The Harvard Gazetteindicates that this trend occurs in social isolation, where less community participation is evident and more people live alone.
“Attendance at religious services has decreased dramatically and marriage rates have decreased,” he notes.
Despite this negative trend in community participation, volunteering in the US has registered a small increase.
“If you look at these objective measures of engagement with other people, it mirrors the statistics of loneliness. The decline in social engagement and community participation began decades ago and many of those trends have continued,” adds VanderWeele.
Loneliness and social isolation, are they the same thing?
Although loneliness is often confused with social isolation, the researcher explains that the first thing is the “subjective feeling” that people can have of satisfaction from the social connections they have. While social isolation is, objectively, the amount of time spent with other people or interacting in communities.
This study allowed them to understand the different social needs that people have. She determined that some have a lower need for connection than others, so they can have a close friendship, enjoy time alone, and feel like that’s enough for their needs.
“Loneliness and social isolation are correlated, but the correlation is not perfect. There are people who spend a lot of time with others but still feel alone, that they are not understood or loved, and other people who spend little time with others but feel that they do. that they have satisfies their needs,” he mentions.
However, those who tend to feel alone tend to distance themselves from the community. “It may not be surprising that if you are socially isolated you probably feel more lonely. What is perhaps more surprising is that when you feel lonely, over time you will tend to withdraw and become more socially isolated,” he says.
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Loneliness and isolation considerably impact physical and mental health
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Impact of loneliness and social isolation
The study assessed prior history of social connections, relationships, and health-related social, psychological, and demographic factors to examine how loneliness and social isolation changed over a four-year period.
In this research they found evidence of the effects that both loneliness and social isolation had a great impact on people’s health. For example, those who felt loneliest had a 40% chance of dying in the next four years, a figure that rose to 75% for those who were socially isolated.
“This is a group of older adults, and living alone and isolated may be especially dangerous for them, given the increased likelihood of health problems,” VanderWeele says.
How do they affect physical and mental health?
Both problems also have an effect on the limitations of physical functions, on happiness, on the sense of optimism and on the sense of purpose in life. In addition, they affect mental health, generating problems such as depression or a sense of hopelessness.
“One of the interesting aspects of our study is that we were able to look at these two conditions simultaneously, and it seemed that each had independent effects when controlling for the other. So if you only address one, you haven’t done everything you can to improve health and well-being. There are independent contributions from each one, so it is important to address both,” he emphasizes.
Although the study found that both loneliness and social isolation have important effects on health and well-being, their impact varied depending on the outcome. That is, for older adults in the country, social isolation affects physical health, causing bodily limitations and even risk of death. Instead, loneliness was the most important factor for mental health and well-being, such as depression, happiness and purpose in life.
“Social isolation is also relevant for them, but the effects were smaller than for loneliness,” he emphasizes.
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FUENTE: With information from The Harvard Gazette
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