據(jù)人口普查顯示，美國(guó)有四分之一的人口過著獨(dú)居生活，結(jié)婚率和生子率也在逐年下降。本月召開的美國(guó)心理學(xué)協(xié)會(huì)第125屆年會(huì)發(fā)布上的相關(guān)研究也證實(shí)了孤獨(dú)與早逝之間確有一定的聯(lián)系。

在此次大會(huì)上，楊百翰大學(xué)的心理學(xué)教授朱莉安娜·霍特·倫斯塔德展示了社會(huì)關(guān)系對(duì)健康影響的相關(guān)證據(jù)。有關(guān)證據(jù)來自兩項(xiàng)綜合分析。第一項(xiàng)分析涵蓋了148個(gè)相關(guān)研究，研究對(duì)象逾30萬人。分析顯示，有穩(wěn)固社會(huì)關(guān)系的人的早逝風(fēng)險(xiǎn)比沒有穩(wěn)固交際圈子的人低了50%。另一項(xiàng)綜合分析涵蓋了70個(gè)相關(guān)研究，分析發(fā)現(xiàn)，孤獨(dú)和獨(dú)居等因素都會(huì)大大提高一個(gè)人的早逝風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。研究人員表示，孤獨(dú)的致死風(fēng)險(xiǎn)已經(jīng)不亞于肥胖癥，是導(dǎo)致當(dāng)代人英年早逝的一個(gè)隱形殺手。

倫斯塔德教授指出：“有堅(jiān)實(shí)的證據(jù)表明，社交孤立和孤獨(dú)會(huì)顯著提高過早死亡的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)，且這一風(fēng)險(xiǎn)已經(jīng)超過了許多人們耳熟能詳?shù)慕】狄蛩??！?

在以前的研究中，倫斯塔德教授及其同事們已經(jīng)論證了主觀的孤獨(dú)感和客觀的孤獨(dú)狀態(tài)都會(huì)對(duì)人的健康產(chǎn)生負(fù)面影響。有研究顯示，主觀上感到孤獨(dú)的人，不管他們的朋友圈子有多大，都會(huì)在生病時(shí)感受到比一般人更嚴(yán)重的癥狀。隨著美國(guó)變得越來越孤獨(dú)，很多缺乏交際的人也必然會(huì)感到自身健康狀況的滑坡。

在2016年接受《財(cái)富》采訪時(shí)，《孤獨(dú)：人的天性與社交需求》一書的作者約翰·卡丘坡曾指出，孤獨(dú)對(duì)一個(gè)人的生理和心理健康都會(huì)造成影響：“孤獨(dú)對(duì)心理健康是有害的，你的幸福感下降了，抑郁癥狀增加了，你患上精神和情感障礙的可能性也相應(yīng)地提高了?！?

目前，越來越多的人已經(jīng)意識(shí)到孤獨(dú)是對(duì)公共健康的一大威脅。明白如何對(duì)抗這個(gè)愈發(fā)嚴(yán)峻問題，已經(jīng)成了社會(huì)的現(xiàn)實(shí)需求。專家們也在呼吁對(duì)該領(lǐng)域進(jìn)行更多研究。倫斯塔德在一篇文章中表示：“隨著人口的日益老齡化，孤獨(dú)對(duì)公共健康的影響只會(huì)日益加重。很多國(guó)家的事例表明，孤獨(dú)已經(jīng)成了一種‘無聲的傳染病’。如何應(yīng)對(duì)這種傳染病，已經(jīng)成為擺在我們面前的一大挑戰(zhàn)?！保ㄘ?cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

譯者：賈政景

In the United States, about a quarter of the population lives alone. Marriage rates and the number of kids per U.S. household are also dropping, according to census data. Now, research presented this month at the 125th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association underlines the connection between loneliness and a premature death.

At the convention, Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a professor of psychology at Brigham Young University, presented evidence from two meta-analyses on the effects of social connection on health. The first analysis looked at 148 studies involving more than 300,000 people and found that people with social connections had a 50% lower risk of dying early compared to people who did not have strong social circles. The other analysis of 70 studies found that loneliness, isolation, and living alone all had a significant effect on a person's risk for early death. The researchers suggested that the impact was similar to the effect that obesity has on mortality rates.

“There is robust evidence that social isolation and loneliness significantly increase risk for premature mortality, and the magnitude of the risk exceeds that of many leading health indicators,” Holt-Lunstad said in a statement about the research.

In previous work, Holt-Lunstad and her colleagues have argued that both self-reported feelings of loneliness and the objective state of being socially isolated has a negative effect on people's health. Studies have found that people who report feeling lonely — regardless of the actual size of their network — are more likely to experience worse symptoms when they're sick. While data suggests that more Americans are socially isolated than in the past, people who feel they lack connections are similarly likely to experience poorer health.

In a 2016 interview with Fortune, John Cacioppo, author of Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection, argued that loneliness has a physical and psychological effect on people's health: "[Loneliness] is bad for your mental health: well-being goes down, depressive symptoms go up, your likelihood of developing mental and affective disorders increases," he said.

The bottomline is that loneliness is becoming increasingly recognized as a threat to public health. Understanding how to combat what could be a growing problem in the U.S. is important for communities, and experts are calling for more research in the space. "With an increasing aging population, the effect on public health is only anticipated to increase," Holt-Lunstad said in a statement. "Indeed, many nations around the world now suggest we are facing a ‘loneliness epidemic.’ The challenge we face now is what can be done about it."