London, December 01: Believe it or not, loneliness spreads like a disease.
An international team has carried out the study and found that people who feel lonesome can spread that feeling to others “like a cold”.
The study found that lonely people tend to spread their outlook on life to others and that over time the whole group of lonely, disconnected people move to the fringes of society, ‘The Daily Telegraph’ reported.
Lead researcher Dr John Cacioppo of Chicago University said: “We detected an extraordinary pattern of contagion that leads people to be moved to the edge of the social network when they become lonely.
“On the periphery people have fewer friends, yet their loneliness leads them to losing the few ties they have left. These reinforcing effects mean that our social fabric can fray at the edges, like a yarn that comes loose at the end of a crocheted sweater.
“Because loneliness is associated with a variety of mental and physical diseases that can shorten life it is important for people to recognise loneliness and help those people connect with their social group before the lonely individuals move to the edges.”
–PTI