Why Connection is Crucial
There’s an old saying: Count your age with friends, but not with years. It’s based on a simple truth: People who are connected are happier and healthier. Being alone is punishing for our mental and physical health. Why else are convicts are sometimes sentenced to solitary confinement?
When Dr. Lisa Berkman at Harvard University performed a nine-year study of connectedness, she found eye-opening evidence of the harmful effects of broken connections. She followed 7,000 men and women, observing connections with friends and family, or social networks through marriage or membership in groups. Dr. Berkman found those with few social contacts suffered mortality rates that were double—even triple—those of more connected people.
The signs of solitude are visible throughout Western society:
- Today’s families are more fractured, and divorce is more common—both of which can lead to a sense of isolation.
- It’s estimated 31 million Americans will live alone in 2010.
- A 2006 study in the American Sociological Review revealed almost 25 percent of people have no close confidante to talk to when they feel down.
Social and family connections are essential to wellbeing. So are connections made through church membership, community involvement, and circles of friends, neighbors, and peers.
Connection and body function
Belonging to social networks—either face-to-face or online —makes us feel cared for and valued. And that yields powerful effects on our health. Emotional connectedness determines how well the body functions.
A positive connection with others can eliminate feelings of isolation and depression—feelings that can readily undermine the immune system. Social ties can help protect our bodies from illness and disease.
Lose those ties, and negative physical effects emerge. Positive relationships result in positive health benefits. People who are more connected, like those in Longevity Hot Spots, are happier and healthier across the spectrum of their lives.
Reach out today
So what can we do if we don’t live in a ready-made community or extended family? Most of us have a circle of friends, but unfortunately they tend to be wherever their lives or jobs take them, often making it expensive and time-consuming to see them.
The BluePrint community is a great place to start rebuilding the connections in your life—whether virtual or real. And remember that keeping physically healthy with the right diet and exercise, as the people in the Longevity Hot Spots do, will keep your body and mind in shape for communing with others.
Get started today—you deserve to enjoy the well-being of connectedness.
