Social Perception and Loneliness

1041 Words5 Pages
The subject of loneliness can be appealing to many considering everyone has the capacity to feel lonely regardless of how much company they have in their social life. A person can be in a room filled with people yet feel lonely. Psychologist Daniel Russell stated, “Some people are socially isolated and they’re not lonely...By contrast, some people are lonely even if they have a lot of social contacts.” Everyone can feel lonely every now and then and even sometimes feel lonely regardless of the amount of people around them. According to a few studies, this may be due to how the brain is wired. This written assignment supports claims made by the news article, “Why Loneliness Is Hazardous to Your Health,” by Greg Miller with two scientific articles: “Perceived Social Isolation and Cognition,” by John T. Cacioppo and “Brain Structure Links Loneliness to Social Perception” by Ryota Kanai. According to the news article, “Why Loneliness Is Hazardous to Your Health,” loneliness can negatively affect the cardiovascular, immune, and nervous systems. The claim was supported by studies’ findings that people who isolate themselves socially are often associated to have a shorter life span. This could be due to being more susceptible to infections, heart disease, and depression. Other symptoms include high blood pressure due to artery constriction under stressful conditions. According to the news article, stressed participants experienced elevated levels of cortisol and epinephrine explaining why lonely individuals may have a lower tolerance to stress than healthy people. According to Kanai’s article “Brain Structure Links Loneliness to Social Perception,” anxiety and personal distress was highly correlated with loneliness. Supporting the claim that a lonely person would be more susceptible to stress than a healthy person in a non threatening situation such as giving a
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