Effects Of Social Isolation

In today’s world, many people of all ages are going through social isolation. Social isolation is defined as “having little or no contact with other people” (Williams). To not get confused, social isolation is different from loneliness, since loneliness “is a state of emotion that is felt by individuals who are not satisfied with their social connections” (Williams 1). Therefore social isolation is something that someone could go through voluntarily but most of the time that isn’t the case. Social isolation may have great consequences that affect people “physically, and mentally” (Khullar 1). Especially with people in their older ages. It is bad whenever people have to face it alone. People who have nobody to be with worsen instead of heal.

In today’s world, more people are socially isolated than ever. “Americans are far more socially isolated today than they were two decades ago, and a sharply growing number of people say they have no one in whom they can confide, according to a comprehensive new evaluation of the decline of social ties in the United States” (Vedantam 1). Some effects of social isolation are very severe just as doctor Khullar suggests, “A wave of new research suggests social separation is bad for us’. Individuals with less social connection have disrupted sleep patterns, altered immune systems, more inflammation and higher levels of stress hormones”. (Khullar 2). He has even personally seen the many problems people go through because of this, “Every day I see variations at both the beginning and end of life: a young man abandoned by friends as he struggles with opioid addiction; an older woman getting by on tea and toast, living in filth, no longer able to clean her cluttered apartment. In these moments, it seems the only thing worse than suffering a serious illness is suffering it alone” (Khullar 1). He also suggests that this epidemic starts in the early stages of life, “These effects start early: Socially isolated children have significantly poorer health 20 years later, even after controlling for other factors” (Khullar