Get off the island of loneliness!

In 1624, when John Donne wrote, “No man is an island, entire of itself,” he probably didn’t know his observation could be applied to health. Donne’s iconic words speak to everyone’s need to be included and recognized in the tapestry of humanity. If someone  is separated - like a thread from fabric -  it can lead to loneliness and isolation that  is not only heart-breaking but health-breaking.

People who find themselves in island-like isolation have been found to suffer health consequences like heart-disease, high blood pressure,depressed immune systems, depression, stress and dementia.  

In a 2001 study using stockbrokers as subjects, researchers found an interesting alternative to drug therapy. Half of the stockbrokers were given medication, the other half acquired pets. Researchers found the pet owners were calmer under high stress circumstances.

These SUNY Buffalo researchers shared these insights: ”One explanation for our findings is that the presence of pets provided the kind of nonevaluative social support that is critical to buffering physiological responses to stress. Social support theorists have suggested that positive feeling states may enhance an individual’s capacity to adapt to stress. We believe that pets may evoke such feelings in their owners. This conclusion was confirmed by an exit conference in which the nominal group technique was used to structure responses to the question, ‘How has your pet changed your life?’ Interestingly, all of our participants attended this voluntary meeting, and all dog owners and most cat owners brought their pets with them to the session. The consensus response with the highest rating was: “Having this pet makes me better able to see what is really important and to put things into perspective.’”

Another study has found that mindfulness meditation alleviates loneliness and health problems associated with loneliness. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have found that mindfulness meditation significantly reduced the factors associated with cancer and heart disease. The study’s leader, J. David Creswell, PhD., states, “We always tell people to quit smoking for health reasons, but rarely do we think about loneliness in the same way... We know that loneliness is a major risk factor for health problems and mortality in older adults. This research suggests that mindfulness meditation training is a promising intervention for improving the health of older adults."

Many people have found prayer to be the warp and weft that wraps them in God’s loving  care. “Ninety percent of patients with serious illness will engage in prayer for the alleviation of the suffering or disease.” (http://takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/explore-healing-practices/prayer) Turning to prayer requires reaching out from the heart.

Mary Baker Eddy who wrote extensively on the connection between thinking, prayer and health observed, “Happiness is spiritual, born of Truth and Love. It is unselfish; therefore it cannot exist alone, but requires all mankind to share it.”

Emerging from loneliness through spiritual transformation can also bring better health. A Canadian medical study released this year found that spiritual transformation brought, “improvement in medical illness.” The subjects in this study were diagnosed with physical illnesses associated with loneliness, but they had to commit to a radical change of behavior.  The study found in a five year follow-up that 90% of the participants who continued to pursue spiritual transformation experienced measurably better medical outcomes.

Loneliness may seem like a cavernous maze, but taking the first step of reaching out can bring not only light into the heart, but health to the body.