Recent research reveals that chronic loneliness increases premature death risk by 26%, putting it on par with obesity. That's not hyperbole or clickbait. That's cold, hard science telling us that our friendless existence might be shortening our lives more than we ever imagined.
If there's one finding in the psychological literature that warrants your most urgent attention, I'd argue that this is it: Social relationships are our most powerful psychological currency; they are the key to our psychological health. There is no "I" in "Self." The "I" is always in "Society." Human beings are social before they are anything else. Human interaction shapes our psychological landscape more than any other factor.
His team, who are based at the University of Sydney looked at data from 60,000 people over a period of eight years, noting how long they sleep, the minutes they spend exercising and their diet quality score (DQS). The DQS score, which is marked out of 100, is based on intake of vegetables, fruits, fish, dairy products, whole grains, vegetable oils, refined grains, processed meats, and unprocessed meats.
