SPA FORESIGHT™
LONELY PLANET
Loneliness is twice as unhealthy as obesity and the number of people affected by it is escalating. Katie Barnes investigates and asks what, if anything, spas can do to help
T
he number of people living alone has increased by a staggering 80 per cent in the last 17 years, rising to 341 million globally in 2013
according to Euromonitor International. Of course, living alone and feeling lonely are not mutually exclusive. But the statistics give some indication of the growing number of people who may be battling loneliness – a disease which has dramatic ramifications for our health.
BAD FOR HEALTH Just as there are many factors that are involved in causing loneliness – from psychological issues such as low self- esteem and mental health problems to material circumstances and life events – there are many ways in which it can be damaging. Studies show that loneliness can interfere with sleep, raise blood pressure, decrease immunity, increase depression, lower overall wellbeing and stimulate the production of the stress hormone cortisol. And last year, researchers in the USA calculated that loneliness is a big killer and more dangerous for health than obesity. Professor John Cacioppo and his team at the University of Chicago followed more
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spabusiness.com issue 2 2015 ©CYBERTREK 2015 Affecting all ages
Loneliness is often associated with the elderly, but it can impact on younger people too. The Lonely Society, a 2010 report by the UK’s Mental Health Foundation, found that 18- to 34-year-olds are more likely to worry about feeling alone and to feel depressed because of loneliness than people aged over 55. Meanwhile, the Loneliness in New Zealand study and another survey by AARP, a USA membership organisation for the over 50s, both found that feelings of loneliness decrease with age.
than 2,000 people aged 50 and over for a period of six years. They found that those who felt the most isolated were nearly twice as likely to die than those who were the least lonely. When compared to the average person, the loneliest were 14 per cent more likely to die young – nearly as great a risk of early death as caused by poverty (19 per cent). A 2010 meta-analysis showed that loneliness has twice the impact on an early death as obesity, says Cacioppo.
Those who felt the most isolated were nearly twice as likely
to die than those who were the least lonely
“The prevalence of loneliness is
relatively constant across the lifespan, so everyone could benefit from interventions to combat it,” he told Spa Business.
TOUCHING ON IT So is loneliness something spas can address? It’s a possibility given the therapeutic power of touch, says Dr Tiffany Field, founder of the Touch Research Institute – a centre in Miami, USA, which is devoted to the study of touch (see SB07/1 p70). “We haven’t specifically studied loneliness, but massage would certainly help people overcome the side effects – we know it alleviates sleep, depression and immune function problems. Spas are not only
SKRYNNIK MARIIA/
SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
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