Social Interaction: A Prescription to Better Health

The social ties we develop – between ourselves, our family and our friends — shouldn’t be taken lightly. There’s an ever-growing body of scientific evidence that supports these social connections and highlight the negative health effects when those bonds break. 

Social disconnection is now recognized as an epidemic with serious health effect risks, including increased mortality rates. This “epidemic” has been highlighted by the U.S. Surgeon General, the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization, which have each convened commissions to study it and recommend solutions.

Isolation and Disconnectedness Increase Disease Risk
Studies have now linked social isolation to increased risk, rates and progression of multiple health concerns, including heart attack and cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, Alzheimer’s and dementia, depression, anxiety, suicide, addiction and even cancer.

According to a comprehensive meta-analysis by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, social isolation increases mortality risk by almost 30 percent, heart disease by 29 percent, stroke by 32 percent and dementia by 50 percent.
It causes as much inflammation in the body as physical inactivity. Isolation escalates type 2 diabetes risk and comorbidities, including blood glucose spikes, kidney disease and heart attacks. And it exponentially raises the risk of depression and mood disorders.

Need more convincing? Flip it on its head to look at the positives of enjoying strong social connections. Research has demonstrated that positive and frequent social support from family and friends improves blood pressure, hypertension, diabetes management and depression while lengthening lifespan for people suffering from certain cancers.

A Prescription for Connection 
What if doctors could prescribe social interaction? When we think about what doctors do, encouraging their patients to spend more time with others isn’t usually on the list. But public health officials are starting to suggest that doctors delve into patients’ social lives enough to recommend beneficial changes and are looking at protocols for providers to consider. 

Leaders in lifestyle medicine and psychology believe that social connection is an important vital sign, as much so as physical activity. They argue that just as exercise prescription and “Exercise is Medicine” campaigns have bolstered action that led to impactful results, a “Connection is Medicine” campaign is vital to help improve and turn around the isolation epidemic.

They propose health checks incorporating important questions related to social connection: asking patients about their number of friends and frequency they connect, whether they belong to a church, community groups or active organizations that meet regularly, and how much time they spend socializing each week.

For patients, recognizing that social engagement is healthy is important to short- and long-term health. Patients should proactively address concerns about feelings of social disconnectedness with their doctor. They may even get a prescription like: 

“Take two friends, twice a week, in person, with a double dose of engagement and laughter; supplement with joining a weekly meet-up or volunteer activity.”