The quality and quantity of individuals’ social relationships has been linked not only to mental health but also to both morbidity and mortality.
Background
Humans are naturally social. Yet, the modern way of life in industrialized countries is greatly reducing the quantity and quality of social relationships. Many people in these countries no longer live in extended families or even near each other. Instead, they often live on the other side of the country or even across the world from their relatives. Many also delay getting married and having children. Likwise, more and more people of all ages in developed countries are living alone, and loneliness is becoming increasingly common. In the UK, according to a recent survey by the Mental Health Foundation, 10% of people often feel lonely, a third have a close friend or relative who they think is very lonely, and half think that people are getting lonelier in general. Similarly, across the Atlantic, over the past two decades there has been a three-fold increase in the number of Americans who say they have no close confidants. There is reason to believe that people are becoming more socially isolated.
Why Was This Study Done?
Some experts think that social isolation is bad for human health. They point to a 1988 review of five prospective studies (investigations in which the characteristics of a population are determined and then the population is followed to see whether any of these characteristics are associated with specific outcomes) that showed that people with fewer social relationships die earlier on average than those with more social relationships. Read the rest of this entry »
