Loneliness Is Contagious:
4 Ways to Stay Connected as You Age

"All the lonely people, where do they all come from?" the Beatles sang in "Eleanor Rigby." Well, now researchers know: Loneliness is contagious, according to a new study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, and can spread from person to person. Just as researchers have previously shown that happy people can make others feel exuberant, so, too, can lonely people make others feel desolate.

And this loneliness network can extend up to three degrees of separation. As the study authors write, "A person's loneliness depends not just on his friend's loneliness but also extends to his friend's friend and his friend's friend's friend." You might think: If someone has friends, how can she be lonely? But, speaking from experience, friends may talk about how "out of the loop" and disconnected they feel--even while they're conversing with each other. That sort of conversation can leave both people feeling down.

It can be worse for older folks, who often cut many of their social ties when they head into retirement and their kids move away. And this can have negative health consequences, according to a slew of previous studies. In young adulthood, the stress that comes with perceived social isolation can raise blood pressure and cholesterol, speed the aging process, and cause the body to accumulate dangerous fat around the abdomen. In a person's senior years, this same isolation can lead to a progression of Alzheimer's disease, less independent living, clogged arteries, and even death.

Aging, though, doesn't have to equal loneliness....

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