Health! (with loneliness and joy of living)

2011/03/06 Galarraga Aiestaran, Ana - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Osasuna

Chronic solitude causes damage to the nervous, cardiovascular and immune system.

The work on solitude has been published in the prestigious journal Science. To begin with, researchers at the University of Chicago find that the true culprit, which harms health, is not loneliness, but feeling alone.

In fact, there are those who, although living isolated, do not feel the need to relate to people, so they do not feel the burden of solitude. Therefore, the absence of friends does not harm health. However, other people, despite having relationships, feel alone. And to them, yes, the loneliness hurts them.

Some, despite living isolated, do not feel the need to relate to people, so they do not feel the burden of solitude

For this reason, in the current research they have not focused on the number of relationships but have measured the feeling of solitude of people through a scale of sadness created in the 1970s. The researchers have answered questions such as the frequency with which they feel alone, the frequency with which they think they have not talked to whom and have related responses to the state of health. Thus, it follows that chronic solitude causes damage to the nervous, cardiovascular and immune system.

They have also investigated the mechanisms behind them. For example, those who feel alone have seen that they have high blood pressure. For it seems that those who have a chronic loneliness are squeezed blood vessels, so the heart must make work harder to pump blood. That is why the pressure rises.

On the other hand, in the urine and saliva of these people are concentrated more than usual hormones related to stress, such as cortisol and epinephrine. These hormones act on the nervous system, specifically on the mechanism "fight or escape" (in English, fight or flight). In a way, it is as if solitude prepared the body to face a danger. From the evolutionary point of view it is totally beneficial, since staying alone was very dangerous for our ancestors. But if it becomes chronic, it is counterproductive.

Finally, its effect on the immune system has been investigated and it has been shown that those who feel alone have a higher risk of inflammation and viral infection. It is explained that the mechanism leaves the genes.

The other side of the coin

Joy is a powerful antidote to stress, pain, and disease.

On the other side of the coin there is an analysis of life. This is not an investigation, but a review of all the investigations that have been carried out on the subject. Researchers at the University of Cornell have published their Current Directions in Psychological Science in the specialized journal and consider that the conclusion is clear: positive emotions are powerful antidotes against stress, pain and disease.

To explain why it is, researchers have found several reasons. Among other things, they mention that good humor leads us to leave home, to walk and to exercise, which has a positive impact on health. In addition, when we are worried or sad we sleep badly and sleep well is one of the keys to good health. That's not little and we have less stress when we're happy. Knowing all this, more than one might want to hear "A song for joy"...

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