People walk across an intersection in Seoul on March 24, 2020. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Nov. 2 (Korea Bizwire) — Men are more likely to feel socially isolated, while women are more prone to loneliness, according to a recent study conducted by one of the leading mental health experts in the nation.
Led by psychiatry professor Hong Jin-pyo at Samsung Medical Center, a research team looked into the mental health status of survey participants (1700 respondents in total) of almost all ages so that the subjects could be representative of the general population.
Deep analysis of the varied responses from the subjects, who were between 15 and 75 years old, revealed that men are 44 percent more likely to experience social isolation, whereas women are 51 percent more likely to feel loneliness.
Compared to women, men tend to have relatively weaker relationships with friends or family members, making them more likely to feel socially separated.
The highest proportion of respondents reporting social isolation was found in the age group from 30 to 44 years old (34.1 percent of the age bracket), followed by the older age group with respondents between 45 and 59 years old, with a proportion of 30.7 percent of the age bracket.
“These age groups (the middle-age to older age groups) are eager to have deeper and diverse relationships with others, but the circumstances are the other way around. In addition, the relationships they maintain have something to do with their jobs, making them feel more isolated,” the researchers noted.
The increasing proportion of single-person households seems to have contributed to rising levels of social isolation, added the researchers.
Tapgol Park, located in central Seoul, is a popular destination for local seniors. (Yonhap)
As with loneliness, older people were more vulnerable to loneliness than younger people. The status of divorce or bereavement, education level, financial circumstances, and self-evaluated health conditions were found to amplify their subjective feeling of loneliness.
Loneliness and social isolation are different, but related. Loneliness is the distressing feeling of being alone or separated. Social isolation is the lack of social contacts and having few people to interact with regularly.
You can live alone and not feel lonely or socially isolated, and you can feel lonely while being with other people, according to a definition from the National Institute on Aging in the U.S.
The research team pointed out that feeling lonely and isolated is not necessarily confined to individual problems. Adverse health consequences resulting from this mental status are associated with higher anxiety and even the suicide rate after all.
Many studies show that those who feel socially isolated or lonely significantly increase their risk of premature death from all causes and cognitive problems.
Loneliness or isolation leading to ‘feeling suicidal’ can be a serious social problem.
The research team found that 52.4 percent of the respondents who felt loneliness admitted they had “suicidal thoughts,” more than five times higher than those who did not report such feeling.
By Jerry M. Kim (jerry_kim@koreabizwire.com)
The percentage of men experiencing social isolation is also very similar to the percentage of men who are unmarried or without children. I can’t believe this is never being discussed. After age 25, your odds of finding a suitable partner (let alone one you can start a family with), especially these days, fall dramatically. And those men who haven’t found “the one” are left alone, scrambling, and scraping the barrel. I know, because I am one of them… Over 30, never married, no kids, experiencing social isolation. There is no cure for this. This has led to depression, anxiety and severe feelings of loneliness where I wish I was dead. And you have no one to discuss this with. Nobody seems to care.