Living alone might actually be unhealthy. “Loneliness Harms Health” on the Association for PsychCentral.com summarizes the longer book, “Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection,” by Drs. Caccioppo and Patrick.
Their basic point is that loneliness has negative physical effects on the body. These effects become more pronounced as we get older. From the article, this summary: “Loneliness not only alters behavior, but loneliness is related to greater resistance to blood flow through your cardiovascular system…. Loneliness leads to higher rises in morning levels of the stress hormone cortisol, altered gene expression in immune cells, poorer immune function, higher blood pressure, and an increased level of depression. Loneliness also is related to difficulty getting a deep sleep and a faster progression of Alzheimer’s disease.”
Sharing housing can do much to alleviate a certain kind of loneliness. Someone in the house to whom one can say “good morning,” and “how was your day?” provides social interaction. For elderly people this may be especially helpful, since they are often socially isolated when they can’t drive and their life-long connections with family and friends are gone due to death and infirmity.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I disagree! I am a healthy 50 year-old man who loves living alone. The author of this article seems to imply that living alone means a person must be a hermit. Not true! It is quite easy to have a satisfying social life without sharing a home with someone else.
I date. I spend time with family, my fishing buddies and my watching-sports-at-the-pub buddies. I travel often for for work which has provided close aquaintences all across the world. I play YMCA basketball at least twice a week and I golf with a league in the summer. Sometimes, I feel like I don’t have enough alone time. But when I do get some solitude, it’s not lonely because I do enjoy my own company.
Other benefits: I sleep much better alone (shhh don’t tell my girlfriend). My house is always clean and the fridge contains only the things that I like. My time is completely my own. My financial resources are also completely in my control.
I believe that at my age and situation in life, living alone is absolutely the most peaceful, low-stress, and satisfying way to live. Living alone does not mean that a person has to be isolated.
Fair enough. I’ll make the title a question mark.