Hello Hivers and STEMSocial Community, it's been awhile (a month) I published a STEM article. I have been trying to develop a new skill, **Graphic Designing Skill**. I have been playing around with GIMP, After Effects and Adobe XD (PS: If you are good in any of these software, kindly let me know. I could really like a help, smiles). I'm glad most of you enjoyed the Part 1, if you are yet to read it, I advice you do, by clicking [here](https://hive.blog/hive-196387/@menoski/understanding-the-relationship-between-socialization-and-our-mental-health). The Part 1 was more on the positive aspect/benefits of socialization. The Part 2 will focus more on the negative aspect of not socializing enough. Reason for this, is that, we humans tend not to get our act together when we are told of what we are to gain from doing a particular thing but when we are told of what we stand to lose, we do those things, that's just humans' psychology. For instance, you want a kid to pay more attention to his/her studies and then you told the kid that, *"You will be the first/brightest student in your class if you studied more"* or *"You will be a successful man/woman in future if you just paid more attention to your studies now"*. Some kids will sit up and start studying more, but most won't take the warning/advice seriously. Whereas, when you tell a kid that, *"You will be poor, homeless and begging to feed, if you don't study more now"* or *"You will be a shame to yourself, your family members and friends, if you don't start paying more attention to your studies now"*.(PS: I'm not that much of a fan of education, I'm more of a fan of skills and ability to contribute). If you notice, both statement to kids are correct/right, if you study you will be successful & be the brightest student, if you don't you will poor & be a shame. But the later will create more fear on the kid and fear makes us humans to take actions. Just imagine running with your friends and running from a lion, which instance do you think you will run faster? Hehehe, it's obvious, right? I'm not so sure I drove the idea, of what I intended, hence, I will like to create a second scenario. For instance, you are trying to convince someone who only sleeps less than 4 hours daily to try and sleep more. Which statement would you think will make the individual want to sleep more. + **Statement 1:** *"Sleep will boost your creativity, immunity and as well as your ability to remember quicker and better, hence, making you super productive".* + **Statement 2:** *"If you are not having enough sleep, studies have shown that you stand a 48% greater chance of developing or dying from heart disease".* > *PS: I wrote about sleep some time ago, they will definitely be worth your time. [Part 1](https://steemit.com/steemstem/@menoski/understanding-sleep-better-what-are-sleep-stages-why-do-we-feel-sleepy-during-the-night-what-s-the-best-sleep-pattern-for-us-why) and [Part 2](https://steemit.com/steemstem/@menoski/understanding-sleep-better-second-edition-what-s-oversleeping-and-it-s-effects-what-s-microsleeping-and-is-it-bad-for-us-and)* I will definitely choose the second statement. Why? The fear of dying will trigger so many buttons in our brain and mind. Humans hate the idea of death, it's our nature. We would try almost everything, if not everything within our power not to die. In this article, I will be discussing about the effects of social isolation. So find somewhere quiet and get comfortable as you read through this amazing article I made just for you(smiles). PS: It won't be too lengthy. ___
*Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from [Pexels](https://www.pexels.com/photo/happy-diverse-friends-taking-selfie-in-park-3776813/)*
___ ### Brief Intro From Part > *We are all social creatures, it's in our DNA to be social. Why do I say so? Why are we born into a family? To socialize with one another. So why are you now, isolating yourself from the world? We are born into a society, that we integrate with, in other to feel among. We crave to be part of a society, that's why kids are at their happiest when they play together. Imagine throwing a birthday party for a kid and nobody comes, will the kid be happy, hell no. The idea of a birthday party is for socialization, to bring loved ones together and create a blissful experience. > Ask yourself how our primate ancestors survived during their time. They had to socialize in other to create way that could help them in times of adversity. They communicated on how to create weapons, how to attack their preys, how to protect their family, etc. No one person can survive on their own. We need people in our lives to survive.* Click [here](https://peakd.com/hive-196387/@menoski/understanding-the-relationship-between-socialization-and-our-mental-health) to read the full article. I strongly suggest you read the [Part 1](https://peakd.com/hive-196387/@menoski/understanding-the-relationship-between-socialization-and-our-mental-health) if you haven't. Without wasting any more time, let's dive into the Part 2 properly. ___
*Photo by Lamar Belina from [Pexels](https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-sitting-on-concrete-bench-3635945/)*
___ ### How Lack Of Socialization Could Affect Our Mental Health The impact of lack of socialization/social-isolation is becoming alarming that many researchers are saying it's now a global problem because its 4 times more deadly than obesity. The reason why it is growing rapidly is because majority of the victims don't even know that, they are not having enough social activities. You will notice that the rate of suicide as a result of depression is increasing over the years. Depression is one of the main evidence that someone is lacking enough social activities. Now, you will like to ask yourself, why in the 21st century are people getting more depressed? The reason is quite simple, advancement in technology. Yeah, I know technology has helped bridged the gap in communication greatly and communication is very vital in staying in touch with your loved ones, hence, increase socialization. Ideally, that should be how advancement in technology was suppose to impact our lives. But in the sense, advancement in technology has negatively affected our social life, making us more vulnerable to depression. Before advancement in technology, family had a stronger bond and there was stronger level of communication between people. There was that existence of parents to children connection. Family hunt for food together, eat together, fight together and even die together. There was that community/tribe bond. But now, dad is on his laptop, mum is on her laptop, the daughter is on instagram, son watching netflix or playing games, neighbors keeping their distance. We believe that with internet, system(computer) and netflix, we are good, we are having the time of our lives, but in the real sense, its killing us. That's how majority of us live nowadays, hence, the increase in strokes, CHD, depression and so on. In a movie called Jexi, you will understand why been isolated isn't healthy to our mental health at all, here is the download [link](https://www.tfp.is/jexi-2019-720p-bluray-x264-tfpdl/)(PS: If you have issues to how to download hit me up in the comment section). Since, I don't want to make this article lengthy, I will explain two ways on how lack of socialization could affect our mental health and physical health. ___
*Photo by Claudia Wolff on [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/photos/owBcefxgrIE)*
___ #### Depression Take a good look at that picture above again, you see it, that's the feeling of a depressed person. Depression seems like something mild, my friend, depression isn't mild, it is very deadly. It will slowly eat you up from the inside, without you knowing. Let me give you some facts according to Mental Health Foundation; > *Depression is the predominant mental health problem worldwide, followed by anxiety, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. [Source](https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/statistics/mental-health-statistics-depression)* > *In 2013, depression was the second leading cause of years lived with a disability worldwide, behind lower back pain. In 26 countries, depression was the primary driver of disability. [Source](https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/statistics/mental-health-statistics-depression)* Now let's talk about how lack of socialization could result to depression. Lack of socialization can also mean self-isolation and someone who is self-isolated will suffer loneliness issues. What happens in the brain of lonely/self-isolated individual? The individual's brain secretes more dopamine. What's dopamine? Dopamine is a very essential neurotransmitter that greatly affects our level of motivation, our mood and most essentially it serves as our pleasure hormone. You know that feeling when you eat a delicious meal, listen to that song that makes you so emotional in happy way or the pleasure you get from having a good sex. You get it now right. That's the work of Dopamine in our brain and that is why it is also known as a pleasure hormone, because it is responsible for giving us pleasure. Why should we have an increase in the secretion of dopamine when we are depressed? Secondly, isn't an increase in the secretion of dopamine suppose to make us feel happier? Firstly, we humans are built to be social creatures, so when our brain starts noticing lack of social activities, it begins to secrete the pleasure hormone(dopamine) to make us try to reconnect with people and feel happy. That's why at first self-isolated people enjoy the isolation and then with time, they start getting depressed(my answer to the second question will explain why they begin to get depressed). Secondly, as a result of too much secretion of dopamine, we start to get the reverse of dopamine which is sadness and depression. If you are following my STEM articles, you notice that I always talk about moderation. Exercise makes us stronger and improves our immune system, but when you over exercise, you will become weaker and our immune system will become more vulnerable. Same thing applies to our brain when it secretes too much dopamine. ___
*Photo by Anna Shvets from [Pexels](https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-comforting-friend-3727573/)*
___ If you are socializing enough, it will be difficult for you to get totally depressed. Almost everyone must have gotten depressed at some point in our life, maybe the death of a loved one, exam failure, break-up and so on. Depression can not survive when there are people around, they will try as much as they can to put a smile to your face. And that's why socializing is very very important in our lives. When we talk, we release ourselves of stress and stress causes depression. So whenever, you find yourself in a depressing situation, try and communicate, and stay at a family member's/friend's place for like 2 or 3 days. They will help cheer you up and get you out of that horrible state(depression). Well according to Nicole Valtorta an epidemiologist from the University of Newcastle; > *Lacking encouragement from family or friends, those who are lonely may slide into unhealthy habits. In addition, loneliness has been found to raise levels of stress, impede sleep and, in turn, harm the body. Loneliness can also augment depression or anxiety. [Source](https://www.apa.org/monitor/2019/05/ce-corner-isolation)* ___
*Photo by National Cancer Institute on [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/photos/bM4MXYPY61U)*
___ #### Increased Risk Of Premature Death Lack of socialization/self-isolation could result to higher chance of an individual dying earlier than expected. As I said earlier in the article, researchers' are of the opinion that self-isolation is 4 times more deadly than obesity. Also according to a research [study](https://heart.bmj.com/content/102/13/1009) carried out by BMJ Journals, self-isolated people have a 29% increased risk of getting Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) and also have 32% increased risk of getting stroke. CHD and Stroke are known to be the two leading causes of death and disability in advanced countries. According to yet another research [study](https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/marriage-and-mens-health) carried out at Harvard, isolated men have a whopping 82% higher risk of dying from heart disease as opposed to sociable men who have a 21% risk. It's pretty obvious that isolation is very deadly and should be regarded as a terminal disease, in order to create more awareness of the danger of self-isolation. According to Julianne Holt-Lunstad who is a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Brigham Young University; > *There is robust evidence that social isolation and loneliness significantly increase risk for premature mortality, and the magnitude of the risk exceeds that of many leading health indicators. [Source](https://www.apa.org/monitor/2019/05/ce-corner-isolation).* According to the Head of Communication at the University of Arizona, Chris Segrin; > *We started realizing about 15 years ago that loneliness is actually a pretty serious risk for health problems. It's as serious of a risk as smoking, obesity or eating a high-fat diet with lack of exercise. [Source](https://uanews.arizona.edu/story/poor-social-skills-may-be-harmful-mental-and-physical-health)* Now, let's understand why isolated people have increased risks of dying prematurely from various forms of diseases. Leukocytes!!! Leukocytes are also known as White blood cells. Leukocytes helps to ensure that our immune system is functioning well as to help defend our body from infections. A [study](https://www.pnas.org/content/112/49/15142) carried out by University of California, Los Angeles, has shown that the leukocytes which are found in isolated individuals are showing a decreased expression of genes involved in antiviral responses. What this simply means, is that, isolated individuals tend to have less immunity, hence, they are more vulnerable to deadly diseases. And that's why recent studies are suggesting that social isolation could actually cause tumors which leads to cancer. According to a study from the University of Chicago Medical Center, which suggests that, isolated individuals have increased risks of developing tumors/cancer. ___
*Photo by Kevia Tan on [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/photos/jaG956L_5Sk)*
___ ### How Can We Combat Social Isolation? Its quite simple, just do what those folks are doing in the image above. Go out and connect with people, listen to jokes, crack your jokes, enjoy the atmosphere, feel happy (Do these after COVID-19 situation[smiles], maintain social distancing for now but you can still connect with smartphones, not just doing instagram and facebook, also use your smartphones for voice and video calls. If you are good, in the terms of been sociable, you can also look out for family members or friends who might be falling into social isolation maybe because of breakup, unemployment, etc and help them. Take them out, if they don't feel like it, stay with them at home, watch movie, play games, dance, just try and create some fun in the atmosphere. The older people are more vulnerable to social isolation. According to a research [study](https://academic.oup.com/psychsocgerontology/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/geronb/gby132/5165411?redirectedFrom=fulltext) which was carried out by Julene Johnson, who is a researcher of aging at the University of California, San Francisco, her studies showed that old people who are more engaging in the community and social groups had a stronger mental health and lived longer. Old people should join social groups like book clubs, chess clubs, choir, etc, so as to stay active at all time. According to another research [study](https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/6/2/e010164) carried out by researchers at the University of Queensland in Australia, also showed that, old people who take part in social groups have a lower risk of death. That's why communities and countries that are communal based tend to have a higher life expectancy. I did my little research on countries with high life expectancy and I noticed that the top five countries are countries that have a very strong family tree system. What I mean by family tree system, is that, the family members are very close and like staying together for life. Below are the top 5 countries with high life expectancy rate. ___ | Rank | Countries | Avg. Life Expectancy Rate | ------ | ----- | ------ | | 1 | Japan | 84.5 | | 2 | Hong Kong | 84.1 | 3 | Singapore | 83.8 | 4 | Italy | 83.6 |5|Spain| 83.4 |
*[Source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy)*
___
*Photo by Vlad Sargu on [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/photos/ItphH2lGzuI)*
___ ### Conclusion Well, studies have shown just how important socialization is for both our mental and physical health. The rate of CHD, stroke, suicide,depression,cancer and more, are increasing daily, many of these cases are because of social isolation, so its only right we fight it back and have fun while doing it, because its actually fun socializating (not all the time though, smiles). My best take from researching and writing this article, is joining a social group. Joining a social group, young or old, is very important, as these groups will always look out for each other and create a sense of belonging which is a powerful weapon against social isolation. Well, amid this current pandemic (Covid-19), now isn't the best time to be super social. Maintain the rules, 6 feet distance and put on your face masks if necessary. You can voice & video call family members and friends to check up on them and ensure they call you too, to check up on you, create a two way connection. We have smart gadgets and that's why you can read this article, you can use it to socialize, not by looking at people images/videos on Facebook or Instagram all day, instead use it to chat and make calls, join groups, join online classes, etc. You have no excuse not to socialize now, so SOCIALIZE. ___ Kindly share this article, so that everyone on Hive can read it and also share it to their friends and family members, you just might be saving someone from death, depression, CHD, stroke, etc. ___
___ ### References > [Ref 1](https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/statistics/mental-health-statistics-depression) | [Ref 2](https://www.apa.org/monitor/2019/05/ce-corner-isolation) | [Ref 3](https://heart.bmj.com/content/102/13/1009) | [Ref 4](https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/marriage-and-mens-health) | [Ref 5](https://uanews.arizona.edu/story/poor-social-skills-may-be-harmful-mental-and-physical-health) | [Ref 6](https://www.pnas.org/content/112/49/15142) | [Ref 7](https://academic.oup.com/psychsocgerontology/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/geronb/gby132/5165411?redirectedFrom=fulltext) | [Ref 8](https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/6/2/e010164) | [Ref 9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy) | [Ref 10](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1745691614568352) | [Ref 11](https://www.ptsdjournal.com/posts/11-negative-effects-of-lack-of-socializing/) | [Ref 12](https://www.hotelcaliforniabythesea.com/2020/03/26/social-isolations-effects-on-mental-health/) | [Ref 13](https://www.noisolation.com/global/research/how-does-social-isolation-affect-a-childs-mental-health-and-development/) | [Ref 14](https://www.insider.com/how-social-isolation-affects-mental-health?amp) | [Ref 15](https://www.newportacademy.com/resources/mental-health/effects-of-social-isolation-on-mental-health/) ___
*All images used in this article are free source licensed under the Creative Commons and are liable for commercial use.*
Thanks for reading
Till Next Time, Stay Safe.
Originally posted here: https://hive.blog/hive-196387/@menoski/understanding-the-relationship-between-socialization-and-our-mental-health-part-2
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