It is said that mind, body and spirit are all connected, and now there are studies that just might affirm this believe. A new study done at Brigham Young University conducted by psychologists has added a new angle to the concept of a “healthy life”. The results suggest that a healthy life includes a happy social life which can sometimes include anti-health activities such as smoking, drinking and eating junk food.

 

The benefit of unhealthy activities like these is that they are usually done in a social setting and keep you around other people. This new study has found that social isolation and solitude could be factors of earlier deaths. Other studies in the same field have shown that social interaction is good for emotional health which in turn improves physical health on a physiological level.

 

Julianne Holt-Lunstad is the lead author and researcher on this study. She analyzed the data from 70 studies performed between 1980 and 2014, surveying over 3 million patients. After checking differences regarding sex, age, social status, economic and health condition, the research concluded that premature death was linked to loneliness and social isolation, whereas an active social life had a beneficial effect on a person’s health condition. The author did, however, acknowledge that the age range was not so extended, including mostly adults of older age. Only 9% of the subjects analyzed were younger than 50.

 

Despite the age limit on the surveyed participants, Holt-Lunstad believes the research is conclusive enough to raise a red flag to the concerning rise in social isolation in today’s digital world. She compared the effects of social isolation to those of obesity, and thinks the two matters should be considered equally as serious.