People who have strong social relationships and interactions, including having close friends, a strong marriage and children who love them, seem to have a greater chance at living a long life, experts say according to a new study. These relationship factors may be just as important to living a long and healthy life as quitting smoking can be.
People who have many close relationships will most often live longer and more happily than those who are lonely, shared a study out of Brigham Young University. This particular study showed a direct connection between social relationships increase a person's odds of living a long life by fifty percent. This study was published in the July issue of PLoS Medicine. The study talked about strong social connections and their affect on having a long healthy life by sharing that being lonely and having low social interaction can be compared to smoking fifteen cigarettes and day or being an alcoholic.
Julianne Holt-Lunstad and counseling psychology professor Timothy Smith from Brigham Young University conducted this study by analyzing 148 previous studies on this topic. The studies all measure the frequency of human interaction over a long period of time. Subjects in the study totaled approximately 308,849 people and data was collected on their lives and social interaction patterns for about seven and a half years.
In regards to this relationship study, the editors of PLoS Medicine stated, "The idea that a lack of social relationships is a risk factor for death is still not widely recognized by health organizations and the public."
One of the researchers of this relationship study, Holt-Lunstad said that from the study she found that friends and family can influence health for the better as much as helping a person to find meaning in his or her life. The other researcher of the study, Smith, concluded in part that many people highly underestimate the value of face to face contact with other human beings.
Holt-Lunstad stated, "When someone is connected to a group and feels responsibility for other people, that sense of purpose and meaning translates to taking better care of themselves and taking fewer risks." Smith stated, "We take relationships for granted as humans. We're like fish that don't notice the water. That constant interaction is not only beneficial psychologically but directly to our physical health."
Both Holt-Lunstad and Smith agreed that when it comes to living a happy and healthy longer life, people should consider ways of engaging in increased social interaction and close relationships. They believe that doctors, health professionals, educators, and the public media should take a more serious look at how lack of social interaction can be just as unhealthy as smoking, poor diet or lack of exercise.
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