What health threats can result from a lack of close relationships?

Answer 1

We humans are social beings and not only thrive when we interact with other people, like with family, friends, and coworkers, but we also have a natural instinct for close relationships. Most people find these in their family, or maybe a close friend. If they don't find it there, then many people form close relationships in connection with their jobs or work. Take Mother Teresa for example, she had no close family or friends, but she met that need for close relationships through the work that she did with the sick and the poor.

Lack of close relationships can have severe consequences. When we are infants, even if we get fed and changed, the majority of orphaned infants die unless tended to with loving care as well as the basic physical needs. This has happened time and time again in orphanages around the world and in history. Those that do survive face a life of mental health issues. As adults we aslo need loving relationaships. The most common condition that develops from a lack of them is depression. And if not a major condition in itself, it often is associated with other conditions and has even been linked to cardiovascular disease. After that, a whole host of other mental health issues can develop along with it. And, if we look at the trends in our modern world, we may become more concerned about the future of humankind on account of all the increase in violence and suicide among our young adults, and the wars the grownup adults are fighting against each other.

If you are wondering what health threats are the most serious from the lack of close relationships, that would be the children. They are the most affected because they are still developing and the world is rapidly changing around them. These affects can be seen in the epidemic proportions of ADD, ADHD, pre-Diabetes, diabetes, and obesity in children that we are raising to face the future that we are now creating for them. As a health care professional, I see those as signs of depression, and similar to what I experienced in my early childhood when immigrating to the US, it is like culture shock, only their culture isn't here yet, because it is the culture of the future to be.

My favorite definition of love comes from Ashely Montegu, he said that: "Love is the demonstrative act of our profound concern for another person's welfare." And, there can be no close relationship without that improtant ingredient.