Loneliness can seriously damage your health

We are all social beings: contact with others caters for our much needed sense of connection. Moreover, social support tones down negative emotions and reduces the mental and physical impact of misfortune. A problem shared is a problem halved for sure.

As always, there’s two sides to one coin. That a lack of social support has an unhealthy impact is the logical flipside to the positive story - and more and more scientific proof points in this direction. As it turns out, loneliness visibly hurts: scans show that the same brain areas are active as with physical pain. If we take into account the bodily impact of loneliness as well - focusing on blood pressure, immune system and inflammatory responses a.o. - it even proves comparable to physical pain’s impact.
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The negative impact of loneliness on health is actually in the same league as smoking and alcohol - and even stronger than that of obesity.

Loneliness raises the risk of an early death to the same extent as 
15 cigarettes a day!

How you perceive solitude, moreover enhances your chance of fear, depression and other mental afflictions, and perturbs your sleep.
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In the workplace, solitude and a feeling of isolation can also take their toll: they lead to concentration and reasoning problems. A much needed counterweight is offered by friendship and solidarity: these are in fact the mental equivalents of fruit and vegetables or physical exercise.

Even though in the past, friendships in the workplace were viewed with suspicion from a HR perspective - due to a possible negative spiral after the breakdown of a friendship - it has become obvious that the advantages largely eclipse the disadvantages.

Friendly relations at work lead to better functioning, more job satisfaction and dedication, and reduced turnover intention.