I looked at this headline and laughed my fool head off at both suppositions. “8 Hours of Loneliness Can Be as Draining For Some People as Going Without Food.” No, neither of these apply to me and haven’t for quite some time.
After all, I’m really an introvert that has to push hard (sometimes too hard) to be social. With the weight loss, I don’t get as hungry as I used to as I’ve “shrunk my stomach,” and getting older has “helped,” too, slowing down my metabolism (dagnabit) so I require fewer calories (which stick around if I do the “more calories in than out” bit).
Anyway, that headline – Emphasis mine, reformatted:
8 Hours of Loneliness Can Be as Draining For Some People as Going Without Food
Being the social animals that we are, humans need company almost as much as they need water, air, and nourishment. Past studies have shown enduring isolation puts us at risk of physical harm in more ways than one. A new study by researchers from the University of Vienna in Austria and the University of Cambridge in the UK has now found eight hours of loneliness can sap energy and increase fatigue as much as going eight hours without food in certain people.
The team’s lab test and field experiment showed people who live alone or who particularly enjoy social interactions are the most likely to be affected by a lack of company. What’s more, it seems as though the reduction in energy is the result of changes in the body’s homeostatic response: a sort of balancing act, where the lack of social connection triggers a biological reaction. The first authors of the study, psychologists Ana Stijovic and Paul Forbes from the University of Vienna in Austria:
“In the lab study, we found striking similarities between social isolation and food deprivation. Both states induced lowered energy and heightened fatigue, which is surprising given that food deprivation literally makes us lose energy, while social isolation would not.”
For the lab study, 30 female volunteers were examined on three separate days of eight hours each: one day without social contact, one day without food, and one day without either social contact or food. The participants gave feedback on their stress, mood, and fatigue, while heart rate and salivary cortisol levels (standard stress indicators) were also measured.
ONLY female volunteers? Well, sure – women (and not womyn, womynx, or faux women) ARE more social, on average, than men. Frankly, men want to “get things done” (drives TMEW nuts all the time, looking at my task list), while (stereotypically) women are more apt to interact. This is not rocket science-type stuff.
The field experiment involved 87 participants living in Austria, Italy, or Germany, and covered periods of COVID-19 lockdown measures between April and May 2020. Those involved had spent at least eight hours in isolation, and were asked to answer questions via a smartphone app similar to those asked in the lab test: on stress, on mood, and on fatigue.
While the field experiment didn’t involve food, its results – lower levels of energy after isolation – match up with the lab work, suggesting that the comparison between going without social interaction and going without sustenance is a valid one. The real-world test was also where those living alone and the more sociable were shown to be most affected. Their reported energy levels dropped on days where they interacted with no-one compared to days with some brief social interactions – an effect not seen in less sociable participants.
“The fact that we see this effect even after a short period of social isolation suggests that low energy could be a ‘social homeostatic’ adaptive response, which on the long run can become maladaptive,” says psychologist Giorgia Silani, from the University of Vienna. So as the time in isolation extends, the damage is likely to get worse: previous studies have compared loneliness to public health problems such as obesity, suggesting that there’s a significant risk of premature death due to being isolated socially.
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We also know that spending time alone can be beneficial for certain people in terms of their well-being. Future research across larger and more diverse groups of participants will be able to examine these associations further.
Yes, there is a reason why solitary confinement will drive you crazy to the point of a psychotic state of being; humans ARE social animals. We do require human contact. There’s a reason why some babies end up with diagnoses of Failure to Thrive and Failure to Attach – both of which were given to the Grandson, given the circumstances of his birth.
I also admit that there ARE longer-term issues when a social guillotine comes hurtling down (certainly more than for 8 hours). There’s a reason that “shunning” has a similar effect on those that have been deemed unworthy either by breaking a serious social norm (or “Mean Girls” Syndrome).
However, I “identify” (smirk) as one of that second group of “certain people”: I CRAVE peace and quiet and have for years. If TMEW and the Grandson go to his Dad’s for a week (summer vacation is coming up), I know that my pace of life will slow, and I see that time as one for rejuvenation. Why?
Most of my career was ALWAYS interrupt-driven to the point that I lost all control over my time. It was always running from one crisis to another and mostly multiples at the same time. Nice to be needed, and there was satisfaction that I had skills that were in high demand, but the constant run from one urgent task to another took its toll – I just wanted to be left alone.
And sometimes, with GraniteGrok and family stuff, that hasn’t changed as much as I might have wanted. But this is on me rather than my bosses and clients.
So no, loneliness is not one of my issues. But that ice cream brownie with lots of hot fudge (no whipped cream, nuts, or cherry on top, thank you -I’m a purist)?
Yeah, that’s still a problem.
(H/T: Science Alert)
