Loneliness

 Loneliness releases cortisol≈cortisone, which is responsible for higher alert levels and this in turn causes expenditure in terms of stress and worry, activating the fight or flight system, and\or inducing short term pain relief.

Long term pressure like this exhausts the body, in the long run, and breaks down neural bonds, and that causes the immune system to be suppressed: breaking down the defense system caustically.

Feelings of loneliness are hypothesized to have implications for physiological stress processes, including activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. 

Scholars have examined the impact of loneliness on neuroendocrine, immune and cardiovascular responses (Uchino et al., 1996). Loneliness is associated with higher blood pressure (Cacioppo et al., 2002; Steptoe et al., 2004; Hawkley et al., 2006), and impaired or underactive immune function (Pressman et al., 2005). Studies have found possible links between loneliness and cancer (Fox et al., 1994) and a large epidemiological study found that loneliness was associated with both morbidity and mortality (Herlitz et al., 1998; Seeman, 2000). 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2841363/

Crying is a safe and effective way to deal with stress,” he said. “It provides an emotional release of pent up negative feelings, stresses, and frustrations.”

Reduces chemicals that trigger cortisol.

Regulate hormone release levels.

Former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy says the most common pathology he saw during his years of service “was not heart disease or diabetes; it was loneliness.”

Chronic loneliness, some say, is like “smoking 15 cigarettes a day.” It “kills more people than obesity.”

Because loneliness is now considered a public health issue – and even an epidemic – people are exploring its causes and trying to find solutions.

BUT

https://www.google.com/amp/s/theconversation.com/amp/a-history-of-loneliness-91542

John Milton’s 1667 epic poem “Paradise Lost” features one of the first lonely characters in all of British literature: Satan. On his journey to the garden of Eden to tempt Eve, Satan treads “lonely steps” out of hell. But Milton isn’t writing about Satan’s feelings; instead, he’s emphasizing that he’s crossing into the ultimate wilderness, a space between hell and Eden where no angel has previously ventured.

Satan describes his loneliness in terms of vulnerability: “From them I go / This uncouth errand sole, and one for all / Myself expose, with lonely steps to tread / Th’ unfounded deep.”

The dilemma of modern loneliness

Even if we now enjoy the wilderness as a place of adventure and pleasure, the fear of loneliness persists. The problem has simply moved into our cities.

Many are trying to solve it by bringing people physically closer to their neighbors. Studies point to a spike in the number of people who live alone and the breakdown of family and community structures.

British Prime Minister Theresa May has set her sights on “combating” loneliness and appointed a minister of loneliness to do just that in January. There is even a philanthropy called the “Campaign to End Loneliness.”

But the drive to cure loneliness oversimplifies its modern meaning.

In the 17th century, when loneliness was usually relegated to the space outside the city, solving it was easy. It merely required a return to society.

However, loneliness has since moved inward – and has become much harder to cure. Because it’s taken up residence inside minds, even the minds of people living in bustling cities, it can’t always be solved by company.

Modern loneliness isn’t just about being physically removed from other people. Instead, it’s an emotional state of feeling apart from others – without necessarily being so.

Someone surrounded by people, or even accompanied by friends or a lover, can complain of feelings of loneliness. The wilderness is now inside of us.

Ironic.