Loneliness can develop into a life-threatening condition, say researchers

Loneliness is not only an unpleasant emotion; it could also kill you. In a rapidly ageing world, loneliness is an increasingly pressing issue. Researchers are finding that loneliness has wide-reaching effects on one's mental, emotional and physical health.

Most of us feel lonely only occasionally. While some people are happy to be alone, most people thrive on social situations, in which they provide each other with mutual support.

Angelique Chan, associate professor at the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School at the National University of Singapore, has for the past five years been tracking a nationally representative sample of 5,000 people over the age of 60 in Singapore to study the association between loneliness and risk of death.

"We used baseline data on loneliness in 2009 as a predictor of mortality in 2011. We found that people who perceive themselves as lonely were 10 per cent more likely to die," says Chan.

Chan's analyses include three aspects of loneliness: physical (who you live with), social (neighbours and friends you engage with), and perception of loneliness (based on the UCLA Loneliness Scale, a commonly used measure of loneliness).

After controlling for variables, the only factor that remained significant in determining likelihood of death was a person's perception of their loneliness.

This finding has an impact on the Singapore government's efforts to promote multigenerational living arrangements, Chan says. "We found that who you live with doesn't matter. Whether you live alone, with a spouse or with children, living arrangements do not have an impact on mortality," she says.