What should I do to live long without getting sick? It cannot be solved with healthy food or regular exercise alone. According to a study by Harvard University (examining the development of adults) which has been going on for 85 years from 1938 until today, the most necessary thing to live a healthy and happy life was a strong relationship with people around you, such as family, friends, and colleagues.
Most physically and mentally healthy elderly people in their 80s were people who were very satisfied with interpersonal relationships in their 50s, and those in their 80s who had no one to rely on, such as a spouse or friend , had memory decline faster than others.
Robert Waldinger, professor of psychiatry at Harvard University, said in his book (The Good Life) published last year, “Lonely people who live unintentionally disconnected from society are more likely to experience short-lived lives as w health declines faster than those who feel connected to others.
Illustration = Lee Yeon-ju’s Chosun Design Lab
✅“If you’re lonely, it’s easy to get sick”
Loneliness and isolation are more harmful to your health than alcohol and cigarettes. Hiroshi Murayama (村山洋史), deputy director of Tokyo Metropolitan Health and Longevity Medical Center Research Institute, said, “Loneliness and isolation are more fatal than unhealthy lifestyle habits such as smoking, excessive drinking, obesity, and lack of exercise, increasing risk of death up to 1.9 times.” “If contact is reduced, it is difficult to get useful information related to health or financial support,” he said.
“A variety of studies confirm that chronic loneliness affects the risk of mortality. Studies have also shown that stress caused by loneliness causes inflammation in the body, increasing the risk of vascular diseases such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Your immune system weakens, your brain function decreases, and your sleep efficiency decreases, making it easy for you to get sick. Studies also show that it causes diabetes, cancer, dementia, depression and suicide.”
Graphics = Chosun Design Lab Yujin Han
✅ Loneliness among single women and middle-aged men
So, what kind of people tend to fall into the cycle of loneliness and isolation? Chosun Ilbo [왕개미연구소]Earlier this month, we commissioned SM C&C’s survey platform ‘Tillian Pro’ to investigate the loneliness and isolation index of 1,513 adult men and women in their 20s to 60s.
According to the survey results, one in ten Korean adults are in a state of deep loneliness and isolation. When asked, ‘Do you feel isolated or alone in society?’, 13% of respondents answered ‘I always do.’ The proportion of respondents who said ‘not true at all’ was around 35%, and the majority of respondents who said ‘sometimes true’ was 53%.
Loneliness and isolation are often seen as the exclusive domain of the elderly, but this survey yielded unexpected results. When analyzed by gender and age group, the group with the highest proportion of responses (14%) who said ‘I always or sometimes feel lonely or isolated’ were women in their 20s and 30s. Among men, middle-aged people in their 40s and 50s had a relatively high sense of loneliness. Men in their 50s are also a group with a higher risk of dying alone than those in their 60s and 70s.
Graphics = Chosun Kwon Hye-in Design Lab
Regarding the marital status of the respondents who said, ‘I am always alone,’ the highest number of respondents (52.4%) were single or not married. Married people accounted for around 29%, followed by divorcees (12.7%) and widows (6.3%).
It’s not just in Korea that young women and middle-aged men feel the most lonely. Japan, which became the second country in the world to establish a ‘Loneliness and Isolation Countermeasures Office’ after the UK in 2021, conducts a survey of loneliness among 20,000 people across the country every year. According to the results of the survey, loneliness was highest among women in their 20s and 30s and men in their 50s.<아래표 참고>.
Graphics = Chosun Design Lab Kwon Hye-in
Mitsunori Ishida, a researcher on loneliness and isolation and a professor at Waseda University, said, “Before the advent of smartphones, if you wanted to meet someone, you had to go to a certain place and meet and talk to people there to create a connection.” “Nowadays, everyone has a smartphone, so the number of people prioritizing the people they want to meet and continue relationships with has increased,” he says. In other words, people who have a hard time getting close to others are bound to be more aware of the problem of loneliness.
Mr A, an official in the popular psychology industry, also said, “While the older generation has a wide range of social relationships, including family and colleagues, the younger generation these days spends more time alone and online, so maybe they are more lonely.” “Because there are so many things and the standards for what they want are high, the value standard for feeling happy will be different to the older generation who have already achieved a lot and accept their current life, ” he said He said.
Graphics = Chosun Kwon Hye-in Design Lab
Due to social changes such as one-person households and an aging population, the number of lonely people is likely to increase. There may not be a need for social action like in the UK or Japan at the moment, but individual effort and control is needed before then.
Satokazuma (佐藤一磨), a professor in the Department of Political Science and Economics at Takushoku University, said, “Starting something new or joining a group and starting a relationship can feel burdensome school days after a long time.” The idea is to approach them first with a light heart and try to establish a connection without putting too much weight on your shoulders.
Graphics = Chosun Kwon Hye-in Design Lab
➡️No matter how many times you read news related to retirement, you still forget it, right? [왕개미연구소]Review our collection of articles. On Chosun.com, click here, and on portals like Naver or Daum, copy the website address (designlab.chosun.com/giantAnt/user/html) and enter it in the address bar.
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