Should The Movie Have Been Titled: Sleepless And Lonely In Seattle?
The results are interesting and bring to light something that I have been saying for quite some time now – that all medical practitioners should be more in tune with their patients’ social makeup. There should be an open dialogue between medical professionals and those under their wing, so that if there are any signs leading to such issues the doctors and nurses can then be alerted of the problem and work to fix it. The ninety-five participants, averaging at 39.8 years of age were surveyed with questions about loneliness as well as feelings or symptoms of depression, anxiety or stress and researchers then studied their answers. Dr. Lianne Kurina, PhD of the University of Chicago, and her colleagues also studied the results from wrist actigraphs worn by the participants to measure their sleep fragmentation and duration of sleep. Though there was no correlation between participants’ loneliness and sleep duration, the study revealed that those who had a perceived lack of friendships and social connections or felt ostracized by others in the community, tended to sleep less. In short, the study indicates that the fewer friends one has, the less quality sleep they get. How can the medical community work to curtail this problem that starts with an emotional stance and ends in a very physical manifestation of this emotional deficit? The key role that medical professionals have to help their patients avoid and prevent this from happening is to recognize the signs before they get out of hand. It is no secret how detrimental to health it is when a person suffers from not getting enough good sleep. The list of ailments is a mile long and it can impact anything from a person’s blood pressure, heart health, fitness and obesity levels and more. In fact, for years sleeplessness has been linked with any number of diseases – all which can be avoided with a proactive approach from the medical community and patients themselves. Patients should continue to receive a regular stream of information and education about the importance of strong social connections. Additionally, health care practitioners need to pay more attention to their patients’ relationships. This is especially true when a sleep disorder or malfunction has been brought to a practitioner’s attention. Prior to prescribing sleep aid medications, professionals should provide their patients with appropriate guidance in order to help them develop a positive sleep-conducive routine and lifestyle. In my practice as a Social Media Medicine expert, I am able to witness firsthand the social connectedness of my patients plus those that rely on my guidance for better health and wellness. I regularly preach that one of the cornerstones of good health is of course good sleep and with this study, we can see that happiness while being in good relationships is indeed connected to one’s overall wellness in yet another way. Dr. Kurina says, “From an evolutionary perspective, this finding makes sense; humans must have relied on a safe social surround to survive and thrive. The absence of a secure social environment results in perceptions of social isolation that, in turn, have been shown to increase vigilance for threat and to heighten feelings of vulnerability.” As it usually does, overall wellness of body, mind and spirit all comes down to the basics that have been around from the start – lots of water, balanced nutrition, physical activity, strong self-esteem, happy relationships – and of course plenty of sleep! ~
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There is a definite relationship between one’s social life and their sleep patterns and with the new study that just came out, it turns out there is some scientific evidence to back this up. Published by 
