We’re a social species, we spend inordinate amounts of time in groups, playing sports, socializing, having fun. It helps keep us happy, sane, immune to the ravages of loneliness. So it’s not hard to see that maintaining our social lives is important to our health, both mental and physical.

That raises concerns for those that are either too secluded in location or that simply lack friends and family to spend time with. As we age, making new friends becomes more difficult, we stick to the close group we’ve known for a long time, but any that pass away or leave through other circumstances mean we’re constantly left with less of a social life. The Atlantic has more about the concerns this can raise:

The results suggested that people suffering from social isolation may be more prone to inflammation and less able to fight viral infections—which could be one reason why lonely elderly people are more susceptible to illnesses ranging from the common cold to dementia, and why they have higher mortality rates than their peers.

The psychological and the physical are inextricably linked; mental illness is physical illness. Loneliness, it appears, is no exception, but the science linking loneliness to health is far from settled.

It appears that we don’t just socialize for fun, but that it provides us an important aspect of life with effects on our health. Check out the full post for more details and studies.

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