Loneliness can create a chain reaction of serious health issues if not adequately addressed. Business Insider's Mia De Graaf breaks down what happens inside your body when you're lonely.
Category
🤖
TechTranscript
00:00 Loneliness can increase your risk of heart disease by 29%
00:05 and stroke by 32%, which are huge numbers
00:09 and is not something to ignore.
00:12 I'm Mia de Graaf, I'm the deputy editor for health
00:15 at Business Insider.
00:16 We're gonna talk about how loneliness affects your brain and body.
00:20 The thing with loneliness is that it's quite complicated.
00:24 When you are lacking in meaningful social connections,
00:27 your body is conscious of the fact that you're alone.
00:31 So it starts to turn up the dial on your stress response.
00:36 Your sympathetic nervous system starts to go on high alert.
00:39 So it's natural that you might feel more paranoid.
00:42 It's natural that you might feel more suspicious of people
00:45 and not feel as open to connecting with other people.
00:49 And it turns down the dial in certain parts of your brain
00:51 where you feel love, connection, relationship.
00:55 Then you hit into this vicious cycle,
00:57 and that's what scientists refer to as the paradox of loneliness.
01:01 Because loneliness drives you to retreat
01:04 and makes it harder for you to crave that meaningful interaction
01:08 that would resolve this feeling.
01:11 There's a chain reaction that happens with the hormones in your body.
01:15 First thing is your cortisol levels go into complete disarray.
01:19 It's what peaks when you drink coffee.
01:21 It's also what wakes you up in the morning.
01:24 It's a kind of buzzy feeling,
01:26 but it's also what elevates when you get stressed.
01:29 Your dopamine increases.
01:31 This is a feel-good hormone,
01:33 but it really drives you towards quick rewards.
01:36 So that may be drinking, gambling, going out,
01:38 without thinking about the consequences for yourself.
01:41 You'll also see a decrease in serotonin, oxytocin,
01:44 and your natural opioid levels.
01:47 When you speak to a friend
01:49 or you eat a meal that is just so delicious,
01:53 you'll get these natural rushes of things
01:55 which will be natural pain relievers.
01:58 Those things will all decrease when you're feeling lonely.
02:02 You start to see this cascading effect on your physical health.
02:07 So the short-term effects are an increase in anxiety,
02:11 an increase in stress.
02:13 So you may retreat, just generally feel more tired,
02:17 generally feel less of an impulse to go out,
02:20 and also feel this increased anxiety and paranoia.
02:23 In a lonely body, the longer-term effects are
02:26 you're more likely to be sick more often.
02:30 You're more likely to be susceptible to the flu, COVID,
02:34 a slight cough that's going around in your office.
02:36 That's also linked to pain in your body,
02:39 so chronic pain, back pain,
02:41 or just generally feeling run down most of the time.
02:45 Your sleep quality is not very good,
02:48 so you may sleep exactly the same amount of hours,
02:50 but you'll wake up and you're quite tired,
02:52 you're slightly uneasy.
02:54 Loneliness impacts your memory.
02:56 That can lead to cognitive decline.
02:58 It can be a precursor to dementia.
03:01 Increased inflammation caused by loneliness
03:03 or honestly by anything directly impacts the heart,
03:06 and heart disease is the number one killer in the U.S.
03:09 Loneliness can even affect your life expectancy.
03:13 It can increase your risk of premature death
03:15 on a level that's comparable with smoking,
03:17 which is the number one preventable cause of death
03:20 in the U.S. and around the world.
03:22 It's hard to believe, but there is really strong evidence
03:25 to suggest that just connecting with people,
03:28 even if it's one small piece of the puzzle,
03:30 will at least shift the needle a little bit
03:33 towards making you feel better physically
03:35 as well as emotionally.
03:37 There's actually a lot of research that shows
03:39 that hearing the voice of someone you care about
03:42 has a direct impact on your brain and on your nervous system,
03:46 but there are other things like art, for example.
03:49 Art therapy has really grown in recent years,
03:52 and it's something that in certain rehabilitation centers,
03:55 art therapy is really integral.
03:57 There's a lot of research that just seeing nature
04:00 is really, really good for you.
04:02 So going outside, speaking to people,
04:04 picking up the phone, exercising,
04:06 speaking to strangers.
04:08 Ultimately, what you're really looking for
04:10 is understanding what makes you happy.
04:13 You're not looking to be surrounded by people,
04:16 and you're not looking to engage in a social scene
04:19 just to be there.
04:21 What you're looking for is to connect with people
04:23 on a level that really, really deeply connects with you,
04:26 and that will have a really tangible physical effect on you.
04:30 [music]