Loneliness is the feeling of one having oneself and no one else. It is an extremely common feeling, and with many people it comes and passes through stages of life. However, the effects of this recurrent sensation are more threatening to people’s health than most realize. The ABC News article “How Loneliness Can Affect your Health,” written by Hallie Levine, claims that loneliness can affect people’s physical and mental health in an extremely negative way. It can cause severe depression, it can weaken the immune system, and loneliness can even make a person more at risk of heart disease (Levine). There are professional scientific journal articles that were also written regarding the possible consequences of loneliness *transition to paper* …show more content…
This article explains an experiment done after a community bushfire disaster. The citizens who participated were first checked for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Baker). Then, the participants were asked to nominate people in the community with whom they felt close (Baker). These nominations were used to produce a social network map that displayed who certain participants nominated and who nominated them (Baker). The map was used to observe the relationship between mental health and social connections (Baker). The data represented that the odds of depression were higher if participants had fewer connections; in other words, the lonelier a person was, the higher the risk of depression he or she had (Baker). The findings also showed that PTSD was higher in a person if he or she was nominated by fewer people (Baker). Again, the lonelier a person was, the more likely that person was to exhibit mental issues. Granted, this experiment was done on a smaller scale compared to the ABC article and focuses on people who have gone through a community disaster. However, the results verify ABC in the conclusion that loneliness has a harmful impact on a person’s mental …show more content…
The purpose of this study was to find “…whether social participation and loneliness predicted health service use,” (McArthur). Nine hundred fifty-four participants went through an in-person interview before their health and social participation were tracked for the next two and a half years (McArthur). At the end of the time frame, the health and social data were analyzed for a correlation between health visits and loneliness (McArthur). It was concluded that the participants who were hospitalized over the two and a half years had an increased chance of re-hospitalization if they were lonely (McArthur). Another conclusion shown in the results was that greater social participation resulted in a lower chance of being put in the hospital for long periods of time (McArthur). It is acknowledged that the results of nine hundred fifty-four people cannot represent all people, so there is a gap between this research and the universal claim made by the ABC article. Nevertheless, both articles support the idea that loneliness has a negative effect on people’s
Pantell, Matthew,et al. “Social Isolation: A Predictor Of Mortality Comparable To Traditional Clinical Risk Factors.” American Journal Of Public Health 103.11(2013): 2056-2062. Academic Search Complete. Web. 30 April 2014.
Pantell, M., Rehkopf, D., Jutte, D., Syme, S., Balmes, J., & Adler, N. (2013). Social isolation: A predictor of mortality comparable to traditional clinical risk factors. American Journal of Public Health, 103(11), 2056-2062. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2013.301261)
Seep is a framework made up of four factors, to analyse how mental health is shaped by the wider community, and how they can all contribute towards a person’s mental wellbeing. Social factors are one of the elements of the seep model, this focuses on the lifestyle of a person and their social status. Therefore, looking at their friends, family, and colleagues, do they have these relationships to give them a support network? Are these relationships causing conflict, does the person feel connected or isolated and lonely? (The Open University, 2015
Russell (1978), (http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/jedp/article/download/46795/25238) established the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) Loneliness scale, which has been widely employed to this day, and performed a theoretical factor analysis for loneliness. His research and results attracted broad attention around the world. Loneliness can be studied by three approaches: the cognitive process approach, the human needs approach and the behavioral approach. The cognitive process approach emphasizes an individual’s mental awareness and assesses his or her social
Can loneliness ever bring death into people’s lives? The answer to that question is yes, it can, and it does. In fact, loneliness is what often causes people to commit suicide. In the book “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck, many characters are often lonely. But that loneliness is caused by something, something that is common to everyone in their lifetime, maybe even you!
In the absence of friends and companions, people begin to ache from loneliness. Loneliness is an unavoidable, fact
Why can Isolation be deadly? Many people who are isolated or have isolated themselves suffer a higher risk of mental health issues such as anxiety, loneliness, paranoia and depression, which can lead to more serious feelings about yourself like committing suicide. In a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, it was found people with fewer human contacts had a 26% greater likeliness to die, regardless of age and sex. Social Isolation is the absence of social relationships and can in fact be deadly. The amount of social relationships humans need to be happy varies from person to person, but it is vital that everyone has meaningful relationships and social interactions on a regular basis. A study performed by Holt-Lunstad
Several studies also asserted that loneliness is correlated with aging itself (Tijhuis et al, 1999; Victor et al, 2000) and that there was a gradual increase in loneliness up to the age of 90 (Holmen, 1992). This increasing trend can be attributed to interactions with other factors due to additive nature of risk factors for loneliness and social isolation (Victor et al, 2000).
Loneliness is the sadness resulting from being forsaken or abandoned. John Steinbeck brought up the theme of loneliness in many characters in Of Mice and Men. Crooks, Curley?s wife, and Candy expressed the theme of loneliness in many different forms throughout the story. Early in the novella George said, life working as ranch hands is on the loneliness lives to live, for these people finding friendship seems to be impossible.
Loneliness is a terrifying feeling that never escapes our lives. When I was younger, my largest fear in life was that I would make no friends and would be lonely. As I grew older, the fear shifted to dying alone. Now that I take steps back to look at this I realized everything I have missed, everything I have misunderstood. I am finally strong enough to understand that loneliness is inescapable, it lives with you all through your life. Life is a lonely place, where even if you are lucky enough to have people around you, all you have to look forward to is losing them either through going separate ways or death.
This model believes that an individual may be free from disease or physical injury however social factors that surrounds a person will determine their wellbeing. In the social dimension of health a person has to be able to interact with people, such as friends and family. According to Antonia C. Lyons and Kerry Chamberlain (2006) Health Psychology a Critical introduction ‘studies have demonstrated an association between what is called social integration and physical health, including mortality rates’. The skill to be able to build healthy relationships may give an individual a positive self-image. Poor social skills may mean that an individual may become isolated or stressed. If an individual becomes stressed and isolated they will be free of disease as they will be physically and mentally fit, however the stress will contribute to the health status of the individual. According to Charles L. Sheridan and Sally A. Radmacher (1992) Health psychology challenging the biomedical model ‘attributes like strength, health and attractiveness can be helpful in coping with
In life people are be alone by choice, no matter if it was flat out what the wanted or alone due to some kind of forced circumstance that grew out of a previous choice they made, but when it comes down to it loneliness is never truly desired. In the short stories A Painful Case and Eveline we see examples of each type of loneliness. In A Painful Case Mr. Duffy for the most part of his life chooses to be alone. In Eveline, Eveline seems to be lonely because she’s unable to leave her duties to her family. In both stories the main characters display their desire to have someone near but when they’re finally given the chance it’s inevitably taken away from them, and then they’re driven back into the entrapment of loneliness.
Is social networking making us lonely? It is not strictly true. Loneliness is one of the puzzles which have been bothering the people for a long time. In addition, the word “loneliness” was created far before social network started to exist. In his book Oh, the Places You 'll Go, Dr. Seuss expressed: “All alone! Whether you like it or not, alone is something you 'll be quite a lot” (7)! The book was published in 1990, the time when social networks haven 't yet been popularized. That is to say, there must be other factors that bring loneliness, and those have nothing to do with social networking. Nevertheless, could social networking be one of the causes of
According to Lorenzini and Giugni, (2010) negative consequences of unemployment, however, might be compensated or at least reduced if young people dispose of certain external resources. For example, the help of the family in supporting them financially might prove essential. Similarly, being in a relationship with a partner and having close friends with whom one can talk to might help overcoming the psychological distress caused by unemployment. “Social integration may increase the individual’s ability to cope in a way that reduces mental health symptoms and prevents social exclusion” (Hammer, 2000). Social integration is understood as having a network of family and friends, but also as having contacts with them. In
Before technology, face to face communication was a normal everyday thing and loneliness was a problem that was rarely talked about or experienced. People went about their day without checking their phone every five minutes or so to see if anyone liked the status they posted or feeling lonely when nobody new liked it. In new studies more and more people have feelings of loneliness and depression. However, more people now use social medias such as Facebook, twitter and instagram. While it is true that technology mainly sites such as Facebook can lead to a person feeling alone, it is also true that it depends on how you use the technology, either to your advantage or as a depressant.