How Loneliness Can Affect The Health Of The Elderly

Loneliness can have a similar effect to chronic stress on our brain health, and can also affect our endocrine and immune systems, which can lead to disease .

Many people prefer to isolate themselves and seek tranquility in solitude  during times of sadness, anger or disappointment.

However, there comes a time when calm returns. And with it comes the need to feel company. To have the support  of all those people who in one way or another motivate us to enjoy life.

There are few people who want to be alone by their own decision. To be surrounded by people and to feel important to someone is indeed an incomparable need. 

Unfortunately, some people  suffer from isolation from their families and loved ones.  This is all the more true when they reach old age.

Consequently, they find themselves totally abandoned until the day of their death.

Research has shown that loneliness in the elderly is a serious problem. It does indeed have a definite impact on premature mortality. 

It is also linked to deteriorating mental health, cardiovascular disease, hypertension and dementia.

How Does Loneliness Affect Older People?

It is estimated that 10% of adults suffer from malignant loneliness. In other words, the one that compromises their physical and emotional health.

70% of these people also have a serious health problem related to loneliness. It also affects both the psychological and the physical.

At the general level, loneliness affects brain health in a way very similar to chronic stress.

Both indeed elicit a negative response from the endocrine and immune system.  The body is then more prone to develop different diseases.

According to the director of the Institute for Psychiatric Research (IIP), Manuel Martin Carrasco, the most common illnesses caused by loneliness are “high blood pressure, diabetes, repeated infections, anxiety and depression. ”. 

In the case of the elderly, the effects are more direct and negative because of the decrease in physiological resistance. The body is indeed less able to endure and adapt to adverse conditions.

In addition, the repair mechanisms decrease, due to aging itself.

What is most worrying is that the problem of loneliness among the elderly is increasing every day. That it could, in a few years, become a global public health problem.

According to experts, any reduction in loneliness can have a beneficial effect on the health of the person, since it is considered that  “the main factor which ensures a good quality of life is to have social relations. ”. 

The president of the Women’s Royal Voluntary Service Organization , David McCullough, which is supported by more than 40,000 volunteers who help the elderly in the United Kingdom, says that the problem of loneliness and its consequences on health have spread .

He and his team of volunteers help the distraught. These are mainly  elderly people who, on their own, already suffer from illnesses, loss of mobility and mental problems.

Data in the UK shows that a  large part of the elderly population feel lonely or very lonely. Especially from 65 years old.

The “Women’s Royal Voluntary Service” Organization therefore works to provide food, find shelter and try to support people who are alone. 

Is there a solution?

One of the factors that plays a determining role  is the type of social activity that the person has had during his life.

It is therefore more difficult to provide treatment and support to a person who has had difficulty socializing all his life. The same goes for a person marked by rejection, disorganization or fear. 

However, personalized treatment and psychological or even psychiatric intervention can be effective. It can help provide a solution to situations that have not been resolved at other times in life.

Support groups, services that offer friendships, senior groups, and just having a conversation with one person during the day can help. These are indeed activities that can help overcome loneliness and improve health in many ways.