Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Why loneliness is bad for your health

A lack of social interaction is linked to a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia and more. Researchers are unpicking how the brain mediates these effects.
  1. Saima May Sidik

    1. Saima May Sidik is a freelance science journalist based in Somerville, Massachusetts.

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

Awaiting the visit from his local country doctor to pay him a visit to his remote French farmhouse, an elderly gentleman sits alone in his favourite armchair.

Some data challenge the popular notion that older people experience the highest rates of loneliness. Credit: Richard Baker/In Pictures Ltd/Corbis via Getty

In 2010, Theresa Chaklos was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia — the first in a series of ailments that she has had to deal with since. She’d always been an independent person, living alone and supporting herself as a family-law facilitator in the Washington DC court system. But during chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer, her independence at times turned into loneliness, which exacerbated her physical condition. “I dropped 15 pounds in less than a week because I wasn’t eating,” she says. “I was so miserable, I just would not get up.” Fortunately a work acquaintance convinced her to ask her friends to help out, and her mood began to lift. “It’s a great feeling” to know that other people are willing to show up, she says.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 628, 22-24 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-00900-4

Updates & Corrections

  • Clarification 25 April 2024: This story has been clarified to include the fact that Theresa Chaklos was undergoing chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer at the time she lost 15 pounds and that the person she spoke with in her office was not a coworker.

References

  1. Park, C. et al. Psychiatry Res. 294, 113514 (2020).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Wang, F. et al. Nature Hum. Behav. 7, 1307–1319 (2023).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Holwerda, T. J. et al. J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry 85, 133-134 (2013).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Baek, E. C. et al. Psychol. Sci. 34, 683–695 (2023).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Cacioppo, J. T., Fowler, J. H. & Christakis, N. A. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 97, 977–991 (2009).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Tomova, L. et al. Nature Neurosci. 23, 1597–1605 (2020).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Matthews, G. A. et al. Cell 164, 617–631 (2016).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Tomova, L., Towner, E., Thomas, K. & Blakemore, S.-J. Preprint at Research Square https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2718114/v1 (2023).

  9. Green, K. N., Billings, L. M., Roozendaal, B., McGaugh, J. L. & LaFerla, F. M. J. Neurosci. 26, 9047–9056 (2006).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. van der Velpen, I. F. et al. Biol. Psychiatry. Cogn. Neurosci. Neuroimaging 7, 659–668 (2022).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Feng, C., Wang, L., Li, T. & Xu, P. Soc. Cogn. Affect. Neurosci. 14, 353–365 (2019).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Spreng, R. N. et al. Nature Commun. 11, 6393 (2020).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Mwilambwe-Tshilobo, L. et al. Soc. Cogn. Affect. Neurosci. 14, 423–433 (2019).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Benedyk, A. et al. Nature Mental Health 2, 337–342 (2024).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links