Being alone can make you ill

January 27, 2015  22:41

Loneliness can make people ill, and social isolation is dangerous for not only psychological, but also physical health, showed a study conducted in Canada.

The authors of work are psychologists at Concordia University in Montreal. They have followed 60-member group of students that came from different countries of the world to Monreal for education for 5 months. Scientists were not only  interested in the psychological aspects of life of the foreigners, but also in their heart health.

In particular, doctors followed the changes in heart rhythm of the participants. Specialists say that heart rhythm indicators reflect the state of parasympathetic nervous system and cardiovascular system, as well as, they characterize the health condition of the organism generally.

Heart rate variability increased for immigrants who formed friendships and expanded their social networks whereas it decreased for those who stayed isolated. The latter  speaks about bad stress tolerance and addiction towards stress-related illnesses. Researchers say, that after moving a new city or a country people often find it hard to establish a solid social network. Such  prolonged social isolation can have a negative effect on physical health by impacting our parasympathetic functioning

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