Obesity's & Smoking's Rival

Why social disconnection might be worse for your health than any of these health issues

Beginning in the 1970s, researchers began to pay more attention to how social relationships boosted health and longevity as well as the negative effects if there was a lack of social relationships or they were of poor quality for an individual––turns out toxic relationships might be just that––toxic.

In 1988, a scientific study Social Relationships and Health, summarized findings and shortcomings of research identified some of the causal impact of social relationships on health. Researchers have continued to investigate all the complexities of why we need social connection––on a physical and mental level. Some have argued that a lack of social relationships is worse for your health than obesity, high blood pressure, or smoking:

Social relationships, or relative lack thereof, constitute a major risk factor for health––rivaling the effects of well-established health risk factors such as cigarette smoking, blood pressure, blood lipids, obesity, and physical activity.

First, we’ll look at the negative effects of these chronic diseases on health to understand what’s at risk when we are unable to nourish and cultivate positive relationships. This is not meant to scare you, but to bring the importance of your social relationships to the forefront––your happiness with your friendships, family members, neighbors, and significant others matters.

Obesity

Stanford lists a sobering number of risks that arise in a person when they become obese. They are more likely to develop:

• heart disease
• type 2 diabetes
• bone and joint disease
• sleep apnea
• cancer (especially for women)

It’s been clear for decades that obesity “has far ranging negative effect[s] on health.”

High Blood Pressure

The Mayo Clinic reports that,

“High blood pressure (hypertension) can quietly damage your body for years before symptoms develop. Left uncontrolled, you may wind up with a disability, a poor quality of life or even a fatal heart attack. Roughly half the people with untreated hypertension die of heart disease related to poor blood flow (ischemic heart disease) and another third die of stroke.”

Prolonged high blood pressure can lead to:

• coronary artery disease
• heart failure
• stroke
• dementia
• kidney failure

And this is just a few of the increased risks you’re taking when you don’t address high blood pressure.

Smoking

The CDC’s list of the negative effects of smoking is long and disturbing. Here are just a handful:

• asthma
• cancer
• diabetes
• heart disease and stroke
• vision loss and blindness

Because the body is complex and the systems are so interconnected, it’s difficult to say how one chronic disease or bad health habit will manifest its symptoms in one person to another––and, yes, there are always multiple factors at play. What contributes to these chronic illnesses? Diet, physical activity levels, stress levels, genetics, etc.

Lack of Social Relationships Could Be More Harmful Than These?

We’ve collectively accepted that obesity, high blood pressure, and smoking are bad for your health––and yet, with all the research that has shown the positive effects of good social relationships and the negative effects of social paucity, we still seem to shout praises about independence, self-made success, self-reliant efforts, strong and stiff boundaries, and the supposed virtue of uncompromise.

This cultural phenomenon goes against all research that shows that we evolved to be social––the main reason our species not only survived, but thrived, was because we learned to be incredibly social. We figured out that it was easier to fight off a tiger if there were four or five of us, rather than going it alone; we figured out that if we banded together to build shelter, we could stick around in one place throughout the seasons; we figured out that if we were kind and contributed to the community, we would receive back tenfold in happiness and health. It seems like common sense––but separation theory and a deep love of independence has hijacked our better judgment.

Perhaps we should start tracking our daily social interactions and investigating our long-term relationships the same way we track miles run, calories consumed, and money in our bank accounts. Turns out that survival of the fittest might be about how much you give and receive to the relationships in your life.