Archive for the ‘Effects of Loneliness’ Category
Loneliness as “contagious” — still concerned
My last Google News search for loneliness and “contagion” turned up more than 350 posts. I find this bizarre. Why is this story—which is, fundamentally, just an academic study—getting so much press?
I repeat what I said earlier: there are countless loneliness studies out there, some of which (such as those linking loneliness to early death) contain much more striking findings.
The term the paper actually uses most heavily is “induction,” not “contagion.” Maybe we can all start saying “induction” instead.
Note that I’m not saying the paper itself is wrong. It’s actually fascinating. I’m just baffled by how it’s getting reported in the media.
Loneliness as “induced” in social networks — just a starting point
See how I’m using the new terminology? It’s fun! The “induction” study shows that loneliness can spread through social networks, with your odds of becoming lonely increasing with exposure to lonely friends.
The idea is that lonely people on the edge of networks isolate themselves further, leaving people they used to be close to feeling alone and lonely themselves. These “second generation” lonely people can then begin to respond in a withdrawn and distrustful way, thereby spreading the loneliness out to yet another circle of people.
I think the reasoning behind this paper is probably right. I think that loneliness is social, and I know from my own experience that I’ve cut people off when lonely—possibly contributing to loneliness in those people.
But I also know that I’ve had friends who’ve stood by me through years of loneliness, and this finding doesn’t fit with the paper’s conclusion. I’ve had friends who’ve reached out to me instead of retreating, friends who haven’t been bothered by my loneliness one way or another. Heck, I’ve got one friend who’s used my loneliness as a way of getting back in touch (he found out I’d written LONELY), and this has strengthened my social network.
I think the reality of loneliness and social networks is much, much more complex than the paper suggests. I see this paper as a really good starting point. But that’s all it is. We need to know a lot more about how loneliness operates within social networks. My own experience with loneliness has shown me that not everyone will retreat. Different people will bring their own resources and backgrounds to the recognition of my loneliness, and my loneliness won’t affect certain people at all (in fact, in the case of the friend I just mentioned, it might bring them closer).
One thing that hasn’t been noted about this paper is that the average age of the study participants was 64 years old. I’m forty. My worst stretch of loneliness occurred in my thirties. It’s quite possible that people at different life stages respond differently to loneliness in their peers, with older people perhaps being more “vulnerable” to the state.
Loneliness induced in social networks — is this bad news for the lonely?
A major concern I have with this study is that it’s going to reinforce the stigma against the lonely by casting them as “carriers” of some sort of “contagious” disease. If we’re averse to loneliness (and of course, we are), then there is bound to be some backlash against people “carrying” the state. Oh, my goodness. I can’t even believe I’m using these terms.
Lonely people aren’t “carrying” anything, and I wish the media would stop being so predictably melodramatic and stereotype-inducing in reporting the (very preliminary) results.
I can just see the coverage of this paper leading lonely people to try to hide their state, for fear of being seen as “carriers.”
Lonely people being “cut off” from social networks
One finding from the “induction” (OK, the “contagion”) study was that lonely and socially isolated people might find themselves ostracized, as the social network tries to protect itself from the spread of loneliness.
Now, this is not good news for someone who’s about to publish a first-person memoir of loneliness. Will I be ostracized? Will I be seen as a threat to the social fabric? Little me?
Loneliness and cold
As someone who is never warm enough, and who has struggled for years with loneliness, I love the study that came out last year showing that socially excluded people will perceive room temperature to be lower than it actually is.
When researchers at the University of Toronto separated undergraduates into groups, and had them (1) recall a time of connection or a time of isolation, and then (2) estimate the temperature in the room, the “socially isolated” students judged the room to be significantly colder than the “socially embedded” students.
The idea is that, from infancy, we link heat to connection (I think the scientific term for this is “cuddles”). Over time, the literal sensation becomes metaphoric, so that we cognitively experience a lack of connection as a lack of heat.
The researchers’ advice to those feeling socially excluded? Turn up the heat! If we intuitively and literally link social connection to temperature, then raising the temperature might help reduce feelings of loneliness.
I actually do this when lonely. I have a matchbox-sized office, and I’ve hauled a giant space heater into it. I love having this little room as warm as possible. Even though I’m alone, I always feel less threatened and isolated when the heat is high.
Loneliness and risk of cancer
A very preliminary study has appeared showing that isolation increases the risk of cancer in rats. This study actually complements much earlier work on people, which showed that women with high UCLA Loneliness Scale scores were more likely to develop breast cancer than those with low scores.
It’s important to note that this research is preliminary, and is dealing with, um, rats. The linkages between loneliness, social isolation, and cancer in humans is going to be much less straightforward than the rat isolation study suggests.
Loneliness and risk of cancer study — good or bad news?
It’s hard to know how to view the social isolation and cancer study. Does it validate loneliness by showing that it leads to serious outcomes? Or does the study (which is just preliminary) simply alarm lonely people?
I think the study does both things—it substantiates loneliness, but it’s a source of concern. Best to remember that the study was about rats, and that the rats were trapped in isolation. Hard to know how loneliness operates in humans who have more social options available to them, who aren’t living their lives (one hopes!) at the hands of researchers, and who are able to imaginatively engage with others through reading, music, and art.
Like the social networks study, this is a good starting point, but more needs to be known.