Loneliness: Health Effects and Coping Strategies

New studies have shown that the health effects of loneliness are far more serious than previously thought and exceed the negative impacts of obesity, inactivity, and air pollution. Much attention in healthcare has focused on behavioral lifestyle factors, but social well-being is just as important, many experts believe.

According to Julianne Holt-Lunstad, professor of psychology and neuroscience at Brigham Young University, loneliness can have a more deleterious effect on health than smoking 15 cigarettes a day or routinely drinking an excessive amount of alcohol.

Holt-Lunstad and her team looked at 70 studies worldwide, examining data from over 3.4 million participants. They found that loneliness can in fact increase earlier death by 26%. Loneliness is a lot more than a feeling, says Holt-Lunstad.   

Research shows loneliness creates a state similar to that of a threat, evoking physiological responses in the body like the fight or flight response. These in turn can trigger cardiovascular, neuro-endocrine, and immune responses that put people at risk of many chronic illnesses, including susceptibility to viruses.

Contrary to accepted wisdom, those most at risk for loneliness are not the elderly, but young adults. The pandemic has exacerbated this, bringing an uptick in youth suicide and suicidal ideation, with school closures and social isolation creating mental health problems in the younger population.

The BBC Loneliness Experiment, published in 2018, surveyed 46,000 participants from more than 200 countries. Lead researcher in the study, Christina Victor, professor of Gerontology & Public Health at Brunel University in London, says 25% of the young participants, aged 16 to 24, reported experiencing loneliness. That percentage decreased with age, with just 3-5% of those over the age of 75 reporting being lonely.

Holt-Lunstad says finding strategies for youth to connect during the pandemic are important. These can include nurturing positive relationships at home and within the family and finding activities that can be done with friends outside and socially distanced, such as sports.

According to Victor, older people, many of whom experienced loneliness at a younger age, have developed coping strategies, making them less susceptible to loneliness as they age. She believes healthcare services should be finding out more about these strategies as a basis for developing interventions to combat loneliness.

Victor says the importance of “micro-interactions”—small acts of kindness like a neighbor offering to pick up a medication—shouldn’t be underestimated as tools to prevent loneliness.  Knowing there are people out there who will help if needed can act as a buffer against the effects of stress from loneliness.

In the UK, during the first wave of the pandemic, the Minister of Health asked for volunteers to help the country’s treasured National Health Service. More than 750,000 people offered their services. “Maybe COVID has reminded us what communities can do when we give them permission,” says Victor.