Loneliness negatively affects the mental and physical state of a person. According to the results of studies conducted by Austrian and British scientists, being in isolation, even for a short time, has a devastating effect on the body. What exactly causes? Check.
The question of the impact of loneliness on human health has long been of interest to representatives of the scientific community. The analyzes carried out so far have shown that social isolation and fasting (refraining from eating) activate the same areas of the midbrain. An Austrian-British research team decided to take a closer look at this relationship and find out whether the lack of food and loneliness are the same burden on the human body.
Loneliness drains your energy
Scientists conducted an experiment in which 30 women took part. The volunteers were divided into three groups. Each of them spent eight hours in certain laboratory conditions. The first was deprived of social contacts (although she had access to food), the second did not eat at all, but could “meet” people. On the other hand, the latter group retained all of the aforementioned “privileges”. During each “session,” the researchers measured heart rate and levels of cortisol (a stress hormone) in saliva. They also collected information from participants about their mood and perceived fatigue and stress.
It turned out that social isolation and the inability to satisfy hunger cause similar reactions in the body. According to study authors Ana Stizhovich and Paul Forbes of the University of Vienna in Austria, both conditions led to a significant decrease in the energy of study participants. Volunteers felt very tired, which is quite surprising, given the fact that loneliness, unlike starvation, is not directly related to a lack of calories necessary for optimal functioning of the body.
The question arises: do people in everyday life react to loneliness in the same way as participants in a laboratory experiment? Austrian and British scientists decided to check it out. They organized a field study in April and May 2020. It was attended by 87 people - women and men - from Austria, Italy or Germany. Participants were asked to fill out questionnaires available in a mobile application installed on a mobile phone. In this way, variables such as feelings of loneliness, stress or fatigue were measured.
The field study did not address the question of fasting, but it produced similar results to the laboratory experiment. Thus, the results obtained under strictly controlled conditions can be generalized to everyday situations. Isolation and withdrawal from social contact cause a decrease in energy. They also affect the deterioration of general well-being. This is especially true for sociable people, as well as those who live alone (alone).
Even a short period of loneliness is harmful
Studies conducted by scientists from Austria and the UK prove that even a short period of social isolation causes undesirable changes in the functioning of the body. Increasing the amount of time spent alone can lead to increased stress responses. Prolonged isolation - as a result of previous experiments - leads to the formation of a cancer called the spiral of loneliness. The less we meet with other people, the more difficult it is for us to build relationships with the environment.
Source: Wprost
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