[BRIEF NOTE] On social networks and loneliness

[rfmcdonald]

It's only with a little bit of irony when I say that this is a sad research finding. The data from the Framingham Heart Study proves its usefulness yet again.

[C]ould the feeling of social isolation be socially contagious? The federally funded analysis of data collected from more than 4,000 people over 10 years found that lonely people increase the chances that someone they know will start to feel alone, and that the solitary feeling can spread one more degree of separation, causing a friend of a friend or even the sibling of a friend to feel desolate [Washington Post]. Friends of lonely people were 52 percent more likely to develop lonely feelings, the researchers say, and a friend of that person was 25 percent more likely.

Lonely people, the researchers suggest, become less trusting of others and of their own social skills, and they have fewer interactions as they supposedly move further toward the periphery of their social networks. As the social connections they do have start to fade, the argument goes, their friends begin to feel lonelier and the wave of loneliness begins to spread through the social network.

Study author John Cacioppo argued back in 2006 that loneliness raises heart rate and makes people unhealthier. But lest he be accused of picking on individuals, he says that’s not the case. “Society tends to think of it as an individual characteristic — there are just loners,” he says. “But that’s the wrong conception of what loneliness is. It’s a biological signal motivating us to correct something that we need for genetic survival. We need quality relationships. We don’t survive well on our own” [MSNBC].

Still, if you’re suspicious of these social network studies suggesting that happiness, loneliness, fatness, and lots of other attributes spread like the plague, you’re not alone—some scientists feel the same way. Says Jason Fletcher: “It is unclear whether their statistical model will ‘find’ social contagion in every outcome they examine because of the limitations.” … He and a colleague conducted a similar analysis using data from a large federal survey to show that acne, headaches and even height could appear to be spread through social networks if not analyzed properly.

(As an aside, I'm not sure why not only happiness and fatness but acne and headaches couldn't also be socially contagious, since humans are social animals and interpretations of events and tendencies towards some actions are things quite readily communicated. Who hasn't eaten out with friends or talked about the latest group phenomenon?)

The most important thing I'd like to bring to this conversation is the fact that mental health is a serious public health issue. People are influenced by other people, people care about other people, and not only the sufferers of illness but people who know the sufferers, well, suffer. Mental health isn't unimportant, isn't strictly personal, and certainly isn't funny. It's something as deserving of attention as heart disease or HIV/AIDS, something that merits action for the general good. I know this from my own personal experiences which, thankfully, have improved most decidedly, but my biggest concern so far is that it might not be possible to compensate for enough of the damage done. Here's to hoping my experiences won't be replicated.