While growing up, my siblings and I lived a sheltered life because my father was very strict.
The university I attended was in the same town we lived in, so on a daily basis, I would go from home to school to attend lectures. If I had a morning lecture, I would go with my father because he was a lecturer at the same university. I only lived in the hostel in my final year.
I remember that when I wanted to go for my National Youth Service Corps, my mother took me to Ibadan. We slept over at my uncle’s place, and the next day, I left for Jos. My mother would not have turned into an escort if I had been travelling prior to that time.
Of course, that kind of upbringing affected us, and being the eldest child in the family, I constantly remind my siblings that none of us is going to raise our children the way we were raised.
I am in my alumni WhatsApp group, and to compensate for all those times I couldn’t mix with people, I make sure now to attend every social gathering when any of our mates is having one.
The joy and fulfilment I experience after every event are always out of this world.
Aristotle, the legendary Greek philosopher, said, “Man is by nature a social animal; an individual who is unsocial, naturally and not accidentally, is either beneath our notice or more than human. Society is something that precedes the individual.”
Man cannot live alone. He must satisfy certain natural basic needs in order to survive. He has to enter into relationships with his fellow men for a fulfilling life. No man can break the shackles of mutual dependence.
This begins, perhaps, between the embryo and the mother and continues until his last breath.
This week, I would like to talk about what socialising can do for our health.
Some psychiatrists go so far as to compare social connection to vitamins, noting, “Just as we need vitamin C each day, we also need a dose of the human moment—positive contact with other people.”
They advocate for adding connection to our list of essentials, in addition to food, water, vitamins, and minerals.
Thus, like in Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs,” connection boils down to a vital human need.
The benefits of an active social life are significant, going beyond warm, fuzzy feelings.
Connection brings a treasure trove of important health benefits and cognitive perks. For example, a study of more than 66,000 people in Europe and Israel (average age 70), published online on Oct. 25, 2021, by Ageing & Society, found that people with the highest levels of social connectedness (good friends) and engagement (activities) had the highest scores on cognition tests, compared to people who had the lowest levels of social connectedness and engagement.
An earlier study of 1,100 adults (average age about 80), followed for five years, found that the people who were the most socially active had 70 per cent less cognitive decline compared with those who had the lowest rates of social activities.
These studies were observational and do not conclusively prove that socialising protects cognition, but they show that it engages the brain in ways that promote better cognition.
“Social activities cause us to use our brains more than almost any other activity,” said a neurologist and chief of Cognitive and Behavioural Neurology at VA Boston Healthcare System. Dr Andrew Budson.
“All of our senses, vision, hearing, smell, are engaged during social activities. We process people’s facial expressions, body language, tone of voice, and speech content, and analyse what’s being said and the emotions behind the words. In turn, that influences how we react: our facial expressions, body language, tone of voice, speech, and actions. Putting the brain to work like that strengthens the connections between brain cells and creates new ones, too,” he stated.
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Apart from the effect socialising has on cognition, it can reduce symptoms of depression by decreasing feelings of loneliness, isolation, and anxiety.
Research shows that your body releases endorphins during positive social contact, similar to the physical response after a hard workout, which gives a boost of happiness while reducing stress.
That is why people who feel more connected to others have lower levels of anxiety and depression.
What’s more, the emotional support provided by social connections enables you to better cope with hard times, stress, anxiety, and depression.
Increasing social interactions, such as going out with friends or joining a group, not only give you a sense of belonging and connectedness, but it also bring fun, allowing you to share experiences together.
Plus, when people feel supported by others, they tend to have better self-esteem and a greater sense of purpose in life.
Social interactions can enhance good health through a positive influence on other people’s lifestyle habits.
If none of your friends smoke, you’re less likely to do so. In fact, studies show that when a partner improves his or her health behaviours, such as exercising, drinking less, or eating healthier, the other spouse or partner is likely to do the same.
A Psychologist, Dr Craig Sawchuk, agrees that socialising is key to good health. According to him, “We are social animals by nature, so we tend to function better when we’re in a community and being around others.”
He adds that people who spend a lot of time alone may have an increased risk of depression.
Psychologist Susan Pinker states that direct person-to-person contact triggers parts of our nervous system that release a “cocktail” of neurotransmitters tasked with regulating our response to stress and anxiety. In other words, when we communicate with people face-to-face, it could help make us more resilient to stress factors in the long run.
She adds that, as a result of social interaction, “dopamine is also generated, which gives us a little high and it kills pain; it’s like a naturally produced morphine.”
This idea is corroborated by the findings of a study, which concluded that the touch of a romantic partner can actually help relieve physical pain.
A study showed that those undergoing chemotherapy for cancer tend to fare better if they have access to social support and interaction, suggesting that just by being around family, friends, or peers going through similar experiences, we can be strengthened both mentally and physically.
One review from 2024 showed that executive function, higher-level thinking and reasoning, improved in older people without dementia who had regular social interactions.
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In one 2023 study, older people who had longer structured video conversations with researchers several times per week for a year had higher scores in their abilities to think, remember, and reason than those who spoke with researchers for a single short check-in call each week.
MRI scans of the participants’ brains showed greater neural connectivity in attention-related areas, suggesting that the video conversations helped reinforce their attentional abilities.
A study titled, ‘The Connection Prescription: Using the Power of Social Interactions and the Deep Desire for Connectednes’s to Empower Health and Wellness’ by Jessica Martino et al. concludes that social connection has substantial impacts in many categories of health, including weight management, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and depression.
Health benefits of socialising (1)
