ealth Risks
of loneliness:
H
Everyone feels lonely at one point or another in their life, but chronic loneliness poses a serious health risk. Recent research shows that loneliness and isolation are as damaging to our health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, obesity and alcoholism (Holt-Lunstad, 2015).
The medical community is recognizing that loneliness needs to be given equal attention as diet, sleep, and exercise.
Simply stated, studies show that loneliness leads to the release of an overabundance of stress hormones and other chemicals which lead to a chronic inflammatory state which:
loneliness = smoking 15 cigs a day
damages the heart
reduces one’s capacity to resist infection
promotes loss of bone and muscle.
increases the risk for early death by 45%
increases the risk for developing dementia in later life by 64%
increases the risk of depression