Loneliness and social isolation can take six years off your life

By Jessica Hall

'Loneliness is so connected to mental and physical health'; men are especially vulnerable, study finds

"Loneliness is one of the most important public-health crises of our time."

Loneliness and social isolation can cut almost six healthy years from your life, according to a study that quantified the impact of social problems that often plague older adults.

A new study published in Nature Communications found that loneliness and social isolation were robbing people of years that were free of mental-health issues such as depression and anxiety, as well as a smaller but still significant loss of physical health.

"When we look at aging, people talk about living longer. But we should be talking about living longer without disease," Lu Qi, lead author of the study and professor at Tulane University, told Marketwatch. "We need to improve loneliness and minimize social isolation."

The issue of loneliness has attracted a lot of attention in recent years. In 2023, then-U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy declared loneliness a public-health epidemic, saying it was as dangerous for people's health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day and associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety and premature death. Since then, Congress has weighed different proposals to fund research into loneliness and support programs to encourage social connections.

The research comes as people are living longer, with retirements that can last decades, making it important to have structure and social interaction in that stage of life. Technology also can make people feel more socially isolated. More people have been living alone in recent decades, according to the U.S. Census. In 1940, 8% of households had solo occupants. That number grew to 18% in 1970 and increased further to an estimated 29% by 2022.

While the terms "loneliness" and "social isolation" are related and often used interchangeably, they are different, according to the study. Social isolation is an objective measure of the quantity of social connection in behavior, while loneliness is a subjective measure of a person's emotional dissatisfaction with the quality of their relationships.

The study looked at 277,489 adults from the ages of 40 and 69 who were initially free of seven major chronic diseases: Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease, neurodegenerative disease, cancer, depression and anxiety. Researchers then measured how loneliness and social isolation impacted the disease-free years these people could expect to live.

Compared to their healthy counterparts who were not experiencing loneliness or social isolation, women experiencing those issues lived 2.4 fewer years free of physical disease, and men lived 1.7 fewer years disease-free. The mental-health toll was more severe, with women living roughly 3.7 fewer years free of mental disorders, and men living about 5.8 fewer years without such problems, the study found. It's tough to say why men and women differed based on the data and more research could be needed, Qi said.

Men may be particularly vulnerable to loneliness and social isolation because they may have fewer emotionally supportive friendships, have friendship networks that erode over time and often have activities-based friendships that may not translate into emotionally based relationships, said Andrew MacPherson, founder and board chair of the Foundation for Social Connection Action Network, an advocacy group dedicated to addressing loneliness and social isolation,

The researchers noted that healthier lifestyles that included diet, sleep, exercise and lack of smoking helped narrow the loss linked to social isolation. However, lifestyle changes did not significantly affect loneliness, suggesting that other methods of care may be needed and more research may need to be done, Qi said.

Why we should care

"Loneliness is so connected to mental and physical health that it's consequential," said Richard Weissbourd, senior lecturer and faculty director for the Making Caring Common Project, a program of the Harvard Graduate School of Education. "We should care about this because societies where people feel lonely and isolated - those are societal failures that are up to all of us to address."

Older adults are at increased risk for loneliness and social isolation because they are more likely to face factors such as living alone, the loss of family or friends, chronic illness and hearing loss, according to a report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.

Social isolation among older adults also accounts for about $6.7 billion in excess Medicare spending a year, largely due to increased hospital and nursing-facility spending, according to the 2023 surgeon general's report.

"Our physical and mental health is worse than it used to be," MacPherson said. "Just think of the impact on our health systems and our families and the health of our communities and our nation. Loneliness is one of the most important public-health crises of our time."

-Jessica Hall

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10-07-26 1001ET