A study published on Thursday in Health Psychology has found that lonely people experience worse common cold symptoms than those who aren’t as lonely.
Researchers recruited 213 healthy people for the study, asked them questions to measure their loneliness, and exposed them all the the same cold strain.
The participants were then quarantined for five days at a hotel, and were told not to interact with each other or people outside of the hotel.
Only 159 people became sick, but of those who reported more intense feelings of loneliness, they also reported having worse symptoms, including a runny nose, congestion, a sore throat, and chills.
Interestingly, lonely people weren’t more likely to get infected in the first place. They were just more likely to have a rubbish time with worse symptoms.
The results suggest then, that people’s perception of their own loneliness predicted how they experience colds.
Which hammers home something that psychologists have been banging on about for ages: mental health is important. Loneliness is an important issue we need to tackle.
So, so many of us feel low and alone, and it’s now clearer than ever just how much of an impact that can have on our mental and physical health.
Talk to people. Try to make connections. Ask for help when you need it.
If you’re feeling rubbish mentally, you’re likely to start feeling rubbish physically, too.
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