For some, feeling a growing mass of stress weighing on their shoulders may actually be the result of poor social skills, a new study finds.
Researchers at the University of Arizona surveyed 775 American adults, aged 18 to 91, hoping to evaluate the strength of their social skills, along with their levels of stress, loneliness, and physical and mental health.
Defining social skills as
the ability to communicate and interact with others effectively and appropriately, the researchers found that participants who were lacking in one or more related areas reported higher levels of stress and loneliness, which often translated into poorer physical and mental health."We've known for a long time that
social skills are associated with mental health problems like depression and anxiety, but we've not known definitively that social skills were also predictive of poorer physical health," says study author Chris Segrin, who heads the university's Department of Communication, in a
news release."Two variables- loneliness and stress- appear to be the glue that bind poor social skills to health," he adds. "People with poor social skills have high levels of stress and loneliness in their lives."Stress had long been known as a risk factor for diminished health, but the impact of loneliness on well-being has only come into the spotlight more recently.
"We started realizing about 15 years ago that loneliness is actually a pretty serious risk for health problems," Segrin explains. "It's as serious of a risk as smoking, obesity, or eating a high-fat diet with lack of exercise."
Comparing the health effects of loneliness to that of a constant search for the car keys, Segrin states that lonely people are simply "not finding what they're looking for, and that stress of frantically searching takes a toll on them."While social skills can be improved through interventions, such as therapy and counseling, many don't realize that they're lacking in the department, he says.
Future research could look at how a lack of social skills may affect other aspects of one's health, including the development of chronic illness.
"I want to get the word out about how valuable good communication skills are," he emphasizes. "They will not just benefit you in your social life but they'll benefit your physical health."The
full study was published last month in the journal
Health Communication.
Comment: Such findings are hardly a surprise in our modern technology-obsessed, emotionally dysfunctional and pathocratic global society. Human beings are social animals and hard-wired for cooperation. 'Virtual friends' and virtual social validation via 'likes' is not a substitute for real world emotionally and intellectually stimulating interactions with other human beings. But many today opt for the former because they have not been taught the skills necessary to successfully navigate real relationships.
Particularly in the USA and Western Europe, rampant capitalism and and its encouragement of instant gratification, focus on the self and promotion of the delusional 'American dream', has produced tens of millions of emotionally-retarded narcissists who prefer to watch porn and play video games than face into the difficulties of life and develop meaningful relationships that would help them overcome those difficulties.
refuses to indict, the recourse has been, to collect information, connect dotes, form hypothises, test them against new evidence...etc.
This is as exciting, as rewarding, as productive a time as anyone could hope for in a world gone insane through psychopathic manipulation. Intense interaction, involvement very complex issues, and constructive progress along with forming relationships of great trust, are all healthy activities open to us.