There are many mental health effects of being alone. In fact, there are far more mental health effects of living alone than there are of living with others. However, even when a person is not alone, they may still be susceptible to loneliness and isolation due to various factors.
Mental Health Effects
A large body of evidence links loneliness and social isolation to increased mental health risks, including increased stress and depression, lower physical health and greater levels of anxiety, and increased risky behavior such as substance abuse, suicide attempts, incarceration, or risky sexual behaviors. Anecdotal evidence from numerous studies also indicates an increased risk of mental health disorders such as substance abuse, depression, and psychosis.
There has been a recent pandemic of panic disorder, phobias, depression, and other psychiatric disorders linked to the swine flu https://psykolog-hadsten.dk. One of the greatest concerns for mental health care providers in this pandemic is the impact on pandemic preparation and the decreased mental health care provided to vulnerable persons. The swine flu has been classified as a pandemic because of the increasing prevalence of the virus in the community and the lack of adequate pandemic preparedness among healthcare workers.
Many researchers have determined that there was a dramatic increase in cases of depression and other psychiatric disorders after the swine flu hit the community. This has caused many communities to severely curtail social activities and gatherings, as well as schools and work sites.
Increased stress, depression, and the associated behaviors and symptoms that accompany them may lead to a variety of other physical and psychological health problems, some of which are obvious and some of which are not so apparent. These may include an increased risk of cancer and heart disease; higher rates of illness and injury; increased risk of substance use disorders; and other physical conditions that may lead to shortness of breath or other types of respiratory difficulties.
Some of these conditions may be amenable to treatment while others are incurable. While it is difficult to identify the exact mental health consequences of stress and related behaviors, the mounting evidence points to a significant connection between mental health and the physical health of an individual.