Though it is our ties to one another that allow us to thrive and live meaningful lives, many of us face feelings of social isolation and loneliness. A new article in the Journal of the American Heart Association states that being and feeling alone are both associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular complications, and an increased risk of death from cardiovascular causes.
Scientists have long investigated how being and feeling alone harms a person’s physical health. And yet, in spite of this abundance of previous scholarship, the severity of the impacts of social isolation and loneliness have remained difficult to decipher.
Setting out to clarify these impacts, a team of researchers recently reviewed the available research on the topic. They found that socially isolated individuals have a 30 percent higher risk of heart attack and stroke, as well as 30 percent higher risk of dying from the same two ...
