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Life alone by 80% increases the chances of plunging into depression
Medical expert of the article
Last reviewed: 16.10.2021
Over the past three decades, the number of people living alone has doubled. In the United Kingdom and the United States, there are every third. But, as it turned out now, this is dangerous for mental health. And even for a man of working age.
For the study of lonely specialists from the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health. For seven years, they observed 3,500 men and women of working age comparing their living conditions, psychological and socio-demographic risk factors, as well as health risk factors ( smoking, alcohol abuse, low physical activity), comparing this information with admission tested antidepressants (data on the use of such drugs were taken from the National Drug Recognition System, issued by prescription).
As a result, it was found that living alone by 80% increases the chances of plunging into depression in both men and women.
In women, for a third of this risk, socio-demographic factors - for example, lack of education and low income - are responsible. And in men, the development of depression is facilitated by a poor psychological climate at work, lack of support in the workplace or in private life, as well as a predilection for alcohol.
What factors are responsible for half the increase in the risk of depression, remains a mystery. Scientists believe that this may be attributed to a sense of remoteness from society, mistrust or complexity that arose due to critical events in life. All this should be studied in detail in order to understand and reduce the incidence of depression in people of working age.