Did you know that loneliness can be just as dangerous for your health as being overweight or smoking excessively? That may sound a bit hard to swallow, but read on to find out the startling results discovered by a team of researchers in a Utah university…
How Loneliness Kills
A study published in the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science shared some pretty hard-hitting truths about loneliness: it can increase your risk of premature death in the same way that being overweight and smoking far too much can!
A team of researchers from the Brigham Young University analyzed data on the lifestyles of adults. The data they analyzed came from a wide variety of studies, and included more than 3 million people. The adults were all younger than 65.
The startling discovery was that loneliness, living alone, and social isolation increased the risk of death by a drastic amount!
Loneliness, which is defined as a feeling of isolation and a lack of companionship, caused a 26% increase in mortality rates.
Social isolation, which is defined as feeling isolated even when in the middle of a group of people, caused a 29% increase in mortality rates.
Living alone caused a 32% increase in mortality rates.
What a saddening realization that being alone in the world can kill you faster than many diseases and health disorders! The link between loneliness and death was compared to the risk of death caused by being overweight or smoking up to 15 cigarettes every day. That’s a hard thing to wrap your head around!