‘Loneliness’ hurts a person as much as 15 cigarettes

 Did you know that ‘Loneliness’ is more dangerous than we thought? According to research, loneliness can destroy our health as much as smoking 15 cigarettes per day.

Research from Brigham University, Utah, studied the relationship between society and physical health from data collection for more than 34 years from January 1980 to February 2014. The research found that loneliness is more dangerous because loneliness increases the risk of death by up to 60%. Loneliness can also be a more important health factor than smoking 15 cigarettes a day or obesity. 

One of the researchers, Dr. Julian Holt Lundad, also said that having friends or family next to one another would help one find meaning in life and be happier than an unsociable person. She also said that health experts, academics, and media often view smoking, eating unhealthy foods, stress, or lack of exercise as a cause of premature death. However, from this research, it was found that social factors themselves are also a part of human death which causes humans to die sooner or later.

The problem of loneliness is not small, and some countries are becoming more concerned with loneliness. For example, in 2017, the British government established the Ministry of Loneliness to cope with and alleviate mental health problems for English people facing loneliness. During the Covid pandemic, Japan has appointed a minister for the Ministry of Loneliness to manage, and relieve loneliness and social isolation after the suicide statistics in Japan have soared to a shocking level, especially women who feel more lonely. 

In addition, many studies have found that loneliness is the starting point for chronic non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. The isolation causes people to become isolated from society, resulting in unhealthy behaviors such as not exercising, and not seeing doctors, and also causes stress and blood pressure.