Research unmasks shocking toll social isolation has on human body

It has long been said that Humans are 'social animals,' we thrive on being around people. We all know isolation can be emotionally taxing, which is why it has long been used as a form of punishment in jails. But can social isolation affect you mentally and impact your energy levels? New research shows that isolation affects your energy levels the same way as going without food does.

Researchers from the University of Vienna found that socially isolating for a period of eight hours has detrimental effects on a person. This long without company, a person's body experiences a fall in energy levels equivalent to the decrease that comes with starving for eight hours.

The research suggests that social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic may have had an unexpected energy toll on people.

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Based on research carried out both in a laboratory setting and during the COVID-19 quarantine periods, the study suggests that social personality traits may also influence the individual's reaction to social isolation.

As per SciTechDaily, just as prolonged periods without food can lead to hunger, a lack of social interaction can lead to a craving response in the brain, driving us to seek social connections again.

This is supported by the "social homeostasis" theory, which proposes that there is a homeostatic system in place to independently regulate our need for social interaction.

Although our understanding of the psychological reactions to social isolation remains limited, the study’s authors propose that lowered energy may be part of our homeostatic response to a lack of social contact and a potential precursor of the more detrimental effects of long-term social isolation.

The study involved 30 female volunteers who, on three separate days, spent eight hours in isolation without social contact, without food, or with both social contact and food. They reported their stress, mood, and fatigue levels multiple times throughout the day, while physiological stress responses such as heart rate and cortisol were recorded by the scientists.

The results were compared with measurements from a study conducted during the lockdown in Austria and Italy in the spring of 2020.

Data from 87 participants who had spent at least an eight-hour period in isolation were used, and their stress and behavioural effects were assessed several times a day for seven days.

The results of the laboratory study led by Giorgia Silani from the University of Vienna showed similarities between social isolation and food deprivation, with both inducing lowered energy and heightened fatigue.

"In the lab study, we found striking similarities between social isolation and food deprivation. Both states induced lowered energy and heightened fatigue, which is surprising given that food deprivation literally makes us lose energy, while social isolation would not", said first authors Ana Stijovic and Paul Forbes.

The authors propose that lowered energy may be a part of our homeostatic response to a lack of social contact and a potential precursor of some more detrimental effects of long-term social isolation.

"It is well-known that long-term loneliness and fatigue are related, but we know little about the immediate mechanisms that underlie this link. The fact that we see this effect even after a short period of social isolation suggests that low energy could be a 'social homeostatic' adaptive response, which in the long run can become maladaptive,"explains Silani.

(With inputs from agencies)

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