The Beatles once sang, "All the lonely people, where do they all come from?" This moving question asked years ago has continued to ring through people's minds, and psychologists may finally have an answer.
Just as a moving song lyric can bring people together, so can loneliness. Whether rarely or often, most people have had the awful experience of feeling lonely. A lonely individual may feel isolated, without a connection to others. However, a recent study has demonstrated that loneliness spreads through social networks.
In the Framingham Heart Study, researchers followed 5,124 people from 1971 to 2001. Individuals reported on their feelings of loneliness. They found that lonely individuals get pushed to the edge of social networks, but their feelings of loneliness and despair can spread. When an individuals feels lonely, friends, neighbors, spouses, and acquaintances may begin to feel the same. The study also found that women are more likely than men to feel lonely and a woman's loneliness is more likely to spread to friends, family, and acquaintances. Also, friendships have a greater influence on a person's loneliness than family does.
The best way to prevent the spread of loneliness is by repairing relationships. By removing barriers and making new connections, individuals will feel less lonely, as will their families and friends. Maybe with time we will no longer need to wonder where all the lonely people come from.
References: "Lone Connection" in WebMD the magazine. May 2010.
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