What are the impacts of loneliness? What types of people experience loneliness?

Almost everyone has experienced loneliness at some point in their life. Loneliness is stated to be just as harmful as smoking cigarettes. People don’t realize how dangerous loneliness can be because it’s not something that can be measured in just one specific way. Loneliness comes in different forms and the effects vary depending on the individual. I conducted a survey for my peers and one of the questions asked “Do you think people can still feel lonely even if they have a lot of connections?” One of the responses stated “Loneliness is the emptiness you feel within. It can be a question of satisfaction or loss of sense when with others. Having connections doesn’t necessarily mean you have a healthy relationship. Loneliness can be evoked when you don’t align with others, or you feel you are missing out on something.” There’s a common misconception that loneliness is dependent on the number of connections an individual has, but that is false.

Loneliness has just as many physical impacts as it does mental impacts. Humans are social creatures and during rough times, our brains are constantly craving social connections. When we fail to meet those social needs, our bodies feel threatened. This triggers the physical symptoms which range from heart rate rising, blood pressure and sugar levels increasing, and extra production of inflammatory cells. Your body starts to view other people as sources of rejection or apathy and fails to realize how they can also be a means of social support.