How to Be Single and Happy: Science-Based Strategies for Keeping Your Sanity While Looking for a Soul Mate

by Jenny Taitz

Still, being with others might not always feel like your first choice of things to do, especially after a long week of work. It can feel challenging to rally after work and organize weekend plans. It is easier to go out if you have a partner who fills your free moments with opportunities to bond with a good group. While I do want to validate the challenges in making time to connect, the research on the risks that come along with loneliness suggests that connecting is worth the exertion. Creating closeness with others can keep you resilient, while feeling lonely seems to intensify pain. Loneliness isn’t just a painful feeling; it increases your risk of sickness and death. Psychologist Julianne Holt-Lunstad and her colleagues at Brigham Young University reviewed studies on relationships and mortality (examining more than three hundred thousand people) and concluded that those who were integrated in their communities were half as likely to die early as their more socially isolated peers. Shockingly, loneliness is twice as dangerous as obesity in terms of its effect on your health; it also increases the risk of mortality to the same extent as smoking cigarettes.