Study: Loneliness and social isolation may cost up to six years of healthy life

Social isolation refers to limited social contact and participation in community life, whereas loneliness is a subjective feeling of disconnection from the world around us. Although these are not the same phenomenon, a new study published in Nature Communications found that both are associated with fewer years of life spent in good health.

On average, loneliness and social isolation “cost” people about six years of disease-free life, according to researchers who analyzed data from more than 270,000 adults aged 40 to 69.

“Overall, the study showed that social isolation and loneliness substantially shorten healthy life expectancy,” said lead author Lu Qi, a professor at Tulane University.

The association was particularly pronounced for years lived without mental health disorders, including depression and anxiety, and somewhat weaker for years lived without physical diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory diseases, neurodegenerative diseases and cancer, Euronews reports.

The good news is that a healthy lifestyle can mitigate the negative effects of social isolation. The bad news is that it apparently does not compensate for the harm caused by feelings of loneliness.

By age 50, people who experienced both loneliness and social isolation had fewer years without major chronic diseases compared with those who experienced neither of these factors.

Men and women experience loneliness and social isolation differently, and this is reflected in their health. Because emotional connections tend to be particularly important for many women, their mental health problems are more closely associated with loneliness, whereas in men, mental health appears to be more strongly correlated with social isolation.

For women, loneliness and social isolation were associated, on average, with 2.4 fewer years in better physical health and 3.7 fewer years in better mental health. For men, the figures were 1.7 fewer years of life without physical diseases and 5.8 fewer years of life without mental health disorders.

Men were more likely than women to experience both loneliness and social isolation simultaneously, were more likely to lack social, material and economic resources, and were less likely to follow a healthy lifestyle.

The authors note that this gender gap may be explained by differences in how men and women receive support and achieve psychological well-being: men tend to rely more on physical presence and frequent social contact, whereas women tend to rely more on emotional support.

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