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.
