by Hani Hamdan
Introduction:
As social creatures, relationships and social interactions are a critical aspect of our mental health, and the absence of them has detrimental effects on our well-being. So, what makes social interactions vital to our health? How does social isolation impact various domains of our health? And how does social isolation change the brain? Let’s take a deep dive into all of these topics.
Social isolation effects on the brain:
Current studies include two, of which the first sought to investigate and compare LL- and HL- individuals’ neural and hormonal profiles. The results showed that HL participants had reduced activation in the anterior insula, amygdala, and nucleus accumbens, as well as reduced connectivity of the anterior insula and occipitoparietal regions. The neurological differences were also associated with reduced trust and reduced positive affect after social interactions. At a hormonal level, findings included that HL individuals had reduced oxytocin response while being socially involved, while their physiological arousal, as gauged by skin conductance and heart rate, was in the normal range.
The second work examines how social deprivation influences the brain across animals, and what it has to tell us about social isolation is that it changes brain functions and structures in animals, particularly in regions that govern reward, stress, and cognitive ability, and also affects major brain centers such as the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, amygdala, and nucleus accumbens. In addition, it was observed that isolation elevated stress hormones (corticosterone) and impaired synaptic plasticity as well as slowed down neurogenesis. And it was determined that chronic isolation creates a neural profile called the state of social hunger, driving reconnection, but often with distrust or withdrawal. In cognitive performance, social isolation was observed to compromise learning, memory, and executive ability, elevate threat sensitivity, and decrease reward sensitivity, ratifying withdrawal from interpersonal connections, and it is associated with impaired brain networks of social perception and decision-making. Lastly, human-comparative results with animals conclude that animals such as rodents and primates exhibit parallel shifts under isolation; such shifts are: modified dopamine and oxytocin signaling, impaired circadian rhythms, and adverse social behaviors. In humans, neuroimaging detects that loneliness impacts the default mode network, salience network, and limbic circuits, in line with depression and anxiety.
Accumulative evidence indicates that social interaction is one of our vital biological needs, and life alone drastically alters neural circuits in processing stress, reward, and social information.
Social isolation effects on public health:
This section includes a whole-of-overview that incorporates 40 systematic reviews and meta-analyses that address four aspects of health:
1. The research established robust associations of social isolation and feelings of loneliness with elevated all-cause mortality; also, lonely living, low-level social activity, and limited social networks are significant risks of mortality. In fact, socially isolated older adults are more likely to be admitted to hospitals.
2. Cardiovascular conditions: The risk of heart disease, post-myocardial infarction mortality, and hypertension is remarkably increased by social isolation, while intensified social ties are associated with greater survival benefits.
3. Mental Health: There are significant correlations with depression, anxiety, suicide, and dementia, highlighting relationship quality over sheer quantity. Furthermore, it suggests that lonely feelings in immigrant perinatal women are associated with postpartum mental illness.
4. Health behavior: Systematic reviews in this study yield mixed evidence regarding health behaviors relating to loneliness and social isolation. Correlations were observed in terms of greater smoking among adolescents and adults, reduced physical activity among patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, and non-adherence to therapy among patients who had a renal transplant. No strong association, however, was observed regarding malnutrition. Some evidence also indicates associations with HIV risk and child abuse.
When considering the data above, it becomes clear that social seclusion is a key public health determinant that has the potential to impact every aspect of this field.
Social isolation effects on mental health:
We will now talk about how social isolation affects mental health in a sequence of studies in three domains:
– Children and adolescents: To understand the impact of social isolation in children and adolescents, two systematic review studies are enlightening; both of these studies recognized a strong link between social isolation and depression, anxiety (particularly social anxiety), suicidal thoughts and self-harm, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and eating disorders. In terms of long-term impact, results show that social isolation can act as a predictor for depression and anxiety months to years before, a greater chance of recurrent mental health issues in general, suboptimal grades, and a higher risk of drug use. In terms of reducing impact, both studies suggest maintenance of virtual social networks, development of a sense of belonging, and participation in structured daily activity to allow positive coping strategies. Computer interventions, especially those that include professionals/parents, show promising effectiveness. Close monitoring of physical as well as mental health is vital during, as well as after, pandemics. Community-based initiatives must focus on psychosocial support and address developmental needs in terms of building resilience and promoting long-term wellness.
– Elderly people: In this area, we have a narrative review study, testing the influence of social isolation in the COVID-19 pandemic in old people (over 60 years old), and it shows an increase in anxiety, depression, loneliness, and poor sleep quality, and it recommends four things to mitigate these effects: one is staying socially connected, two is regular routines (sleep–wake cycles, healthy diet, daily activities), three is the cognitive stimulation (games, apps, reading, mental exercises), and finally four is physical activity combining aerobic activity and strength sessions.
To this effect, we will introduce three studies, of which the first devises a conceptual model that helps explain the five facets of social isolation, which are as follows:
1) Network (Size): The number of people and how often they engage in social interactions.
2) Network (Structure): The properties of social ties (e.g., density, ratio of kin/non-kin)
3) Network (Quality): Quality of relations as perceived (e.g., confiding, affective intimacy)
4) Relationship Appraisal (Emotional): Subjective experiences such as a feeling of loneliness or of receiving support.
5) Evaluation of Relationships (Resources): Operationalized as perceived availability of tangible support or resources.
The second paper provides as its pivotal concept objective versus subjective isolation, and frames the objective isolation as a quantifiable lack of social interaction (e.g., solitary residence, limited communication), and subjective isolation (loneliness) as feeling alone despite actual social interaction, and proposes three psychological mechanisms to account for social isolation:
Hypervigilance: Lonely individuals will tend to be in a state of unconscious scanning of potential social risk.
These cognitive distortions also give rise to a pessimistic interpretation of social cues, therefore yielding stressful encounters with individuals.
– Behavioral Confirmation: creating defensive behaviors reinforces isolation, which in turn reinforces a feedback loop.
The third investigation examines the psychological consequences of social isolation in the middle COVID-19 pandemic, represented in anxiety and panic, depression, and grief, in addition to the stigma directed toward people locked in quarantine and frontline workers. Additionally, the research outlines biological and social mechanisms, asserting that loneliness and isolation during the COVID-19 crisis correlate with increased levels of cortisol, inflammation, cognitive decline, and cardiovascular disease. The learned helplessness phenomenon occurs when individuals see themselves as powerless, leading to amplified depressive symptoms. Social fragmentation, fueled by restrictive policies and fear-based communication, diminishes trust and social cohesion, thereby intensifying psychological distress and societal division. The study ends with some final recommendations for prevention, including recognizing distress as a normal reaction, identifying passive coping early, and fostering psychological flexibility. Suggesting that empathetic communication, avoiding alarmism, and building trust are vitally important. Finally, strong economic and mental health policy support is needed to mitigate long-term psychological harm and promote resilience across communities.
Conclusion:
In this research, we saw how social isolation has devastating effects on the brain, public health, and mental health. These effects can differ between young and old people, and they can be magnified in certain situations, like the COVID-19 pandemic, and we tried to give some recommendations to deal with these effects in the best possible ways.
References:
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