健康生活:孤獨感有損身心健康

I now know why I gained more than 30 pounds in my early 20s: I was lonely. I had left my beloved alma mater upstate for graduate school and a job in the Upper Midwest. I knew no one and felt like a fish out of water.

現在我知道，在自己20歲出頭時，爲什麼會猛增了30多磅體重了：我當時太孤獨了。我告別了北方我深愛着的母校，來到美國上中西部邊讀研究生邊工作。在那兒我舉目無親，感覺像是一條離開水的魚。

I filled my lonely nights and days with — you guessed it — food. Anything I could get my hands on, especially candy, cookies and ice cream. Food filled the hole in my soul, at least temporarily.

在許多個黑夜和白天，我用吃東西來填充寂寞——估計你猜也猜得到。任何觸手可及的東西我都會吃，尤其是糖果、曲奇和冰激淋。食物填滿了我靈魂的空洞，至少暫時如此。

No matter how hard I tried, I could not rein in my out-of-control eating until I returned to New York and my family, and began dating my future husband.

不管我怎樣努力，都沒法擺脫業已失控的暴食，直到我回到紐約，回到家人身邊，開始跟我未來的丈夫約會，這一切才停止。

Loneliness, says John T. Cacioppo, an award-winning psychologist at the University of Chicago, undermines people’s ability to self-regulate. In one experiment he cites, participants made to feel socially disconnected ate many more cookies than those made to feel socially accepted. In a real-life study of middle-aged and older adults in the Chicago area, Dr. Cacioppo and colleagues found that those who scored high on the U.C.L.A. Loneliness Scale, a widely used psychological assessment, ate substantially more fatty foods than those who scored low. “Is it any wonder that we turn to ice cream or other fatty foods when we’re sitting at home feeling all alone in the world?” Dr. Cacioppo said in his well-documented book, “Loneliness, ” written with William Patrick. “We want to soothe the pain we feel by mainlining sugar and fat content to the pleasure centers of the brain, and absent of self-control, we go right at it.”

據芝加哥大學(University of Chicago)獲獎無數的心理學家約翰·T·卡奇奧波(John T. Cacioppo)說，孤獨感會影響人們的自我調節能力。他援引了一項試驗：感覺自己與社會脫節的參試者，相比覺得受社會接納的參試者，所吃的餅乾要更多。卡奇奧波曾和同事們在芝加哥地區做過一項研究，參加試驗的是中老年人，他們發現那些在加州大學洛杉磯分校孤獨感量表（UCLA Loneliness Scale，一項廣爲使用的心理學量表）中得分較高的人，比起得分低者，所吃的高脂食物要多得多。卡奇奧波與威廉·派特里克(William Patrick)合著有內容翔實的著作——《孤獨感》，在書中他寫道：“坐在家中，感覺自己與世隔絕，在這種時候狂吃冰激淋或其他高脂食物，這有什麼好奇怪的？我們希望通過將糖和脂肪注入大腦的愉悅中樞來紓解心中的苦悶，在此時我們毫無自制力，直接將手伸向食物。”

He explained that lonely individuals tend to do whatever they can to make themselves feel better, if only for the moment. They may overeat, drink too much, smoke, speed or engage in indiscriminate sex.

他繼續解釋說，只要能讓自己好受點，孤獨的人們可以做出任何事情，哪怕只會感到片刻慰藉。他們也許會暴食、酗酒、抽菸、飆車，或者濫交。

A review of research published in 1988 found that “social isolation is on a par with high blood pressure, obesity, lack of exercise or smoking as a risk factor for illness and early death, ” Dr. Cacioppo wrote.

回顧1988年發表的一篇研究，卡奇奧波發現，“與世隔絕的感覺，與高血壓、肥胖、缺乏運動、吸菸一樣，構成了致病或早死的危險因素。”

Even without indulging in unwholesome behaviors, Dr. Cacioppo and others have shown that loneliness can impair health by raising levels of stress hormones and increasing inflammation. The damage can be widespread, affecting every bodily system and brain function.

卡奇奧波和其他研究者發現，孤獨的人們就算不會沉緬於不健康的行爲，但孤獨仍會導致人體的壓力激素水平上升，加劇炎症反應，進而影響健康。它可以對身體產生各種傷害，影響身體的各個系統和大腦功能。

Lisa Jaremka, a postdoctoral fellow at Ohio State University, reported in January at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology that people who are lonely have higher levels of antibodies to certain herpes viruses, indicating more activated viruses in their systems. In another study, she found higher levels of inflammation-inducing substances in the blood of lonely people.

俄亥俄大學(Ohio State University)博士後麗莎·雅雷姆卡(Lisa Jaremka)在1月份的人格和社會心理學協會年會上做了一份報告，指出孤獨的人對某些皰疹病毒可產生較高水平的抗體，這意味着他們體內含有更多活性病毒。她在另一項研究中發現，孤獨的人血液中含有的致炎因子濃度較高。

Chronic inflammation has been linked to heart disease, arthritis, Type 2 diabetes and even suicide attempts, Dr. Jaremka noted. People who are lonely also react more strongly to negative events and perceive daily life as being more stressful, which can depress the immune system.

雅雷姆卡博士指出，慢性炎症與心臟病、關節炎、II型糖尿病，甚至自殺企圖有關。孤獨的人在應對負面事態時，也易於做出更激烈的反應，並且認爲日常生活壓力重重，而這會抑制免疫系統。

Loneliness can even influence how genes are expressed, Dr. Cacioppo has found. Loneliness predicted changes in DNA transcription that in turn dampened the body’s ability to shut off the inflammatory response, he reported. A study by Dr. Carla M. Perissinotto and colleagues at the University of California, San Francisco, assessed loneliness among 1, 604 older adults and followed them for six years. Those who were lonely were more likely to develop difficulties performing activities of daily living like bathing and dressing, using their arms and shoulders, climbing stairs and walking. Loneliness was also associated with an increased risk of death during the study period.

卡奇奧波發現，孤獨感甚至會影響基因表達。他指出，孤獨感會預示DNA轉錄的變化，而這反過來會抑制機體關閉炎症反應的能力。加州大學舊金山分校(University of California, San Francisco)的卡拉·M·佩裏西諾託(Carla M. Perissinotto)和同事們對1604名老年人的孤獨感進行了評估，隨訪持續了六年。那些孤獨的老人更有可能難以進行日常活動，比如洗澡和穿衣，使用胳膊和肩膀，爬樓梯和步行。在研究期間，孤獨感與死亡危險上升也有聯繫。

It’s not surprising that loneliness has also been linked to cognitive decline. A Dutch study published last year in The Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery &Psychiatry found that participants who reported feeling lonely — regardless of how many friends and family surrounded them — were more likely to develop dementia than those who lived on their own but were not lonely.

不出人們所料：孤獨感與認知功能減退也有聯繫。《神經病學、神經外科學與精神病學雜誌》(The Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery &Psychiatry)去年刊登了荷蘭的一項研究，研究發現感到孤獨的參試者——不管他們身邊事實上有多少親友陪伴——相比雖然一個人生活，但並不覺得孤獨的人，更有可能患癡呆症。

The nearly 2, 200 participants, ages 65 to 86, were followed for three years and had shown no signs of dementia at the study’s start. About half lived alone, and 20 percent reported feeling lonely. After adjusting for other factors that are linked to cognitive decline, like age, feeling lonely was linked to a 64 percent increase in the risk of developing dementia, according to Tjalling Jan Holwerda of the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam.

阿姆斯特丹自由大學(VU University)醫學中心的特亞林·簡·赫爾威達(Tjalling Jan Holwerda)介紹說，這項研究調查了近2200名年紀在65歲到86歲間的老人，隨訪三年，在研究起始階段所有人都未出現癡呆症症狀。其中約半數獨居，20%的人表示感到孤獨。在排除了其他與認知功能減退有關的因素，比如年齡後，研究發現感到孤獨，可使患癡呆症風險增加64%。

This is not proof that loneliness causes dementia; the reverse could be true. People whose cognitive abilities begin declining may withdraw from others, the authors suggested. On the other hand, loneliness may result in “a lack of sensory and cognitive stimulation, ” which in turn reduces levels of nerve growth factors in the brain and may contribute to dementia.

這並不能證明孤獨可導致癡呆，但反之可以成立。研究作者發現，認知功能開始減退的人可能會漸漸淡出社交生活。另一方面，孤獨感可能導致“知覺和認知刺激缺失”，降低大腦中的神經生長分子水平，進而導致癡呆症發作。

The Dutch study, among others, suggests that how people perceive their situation may have a stronger impact on health than whether they live alone and lack social connections. Divorced people have reported feeling lonelier in a bad marriage than they do being single. And people who live alone may still have a large network of friends and family that helps to keep loneliness at bay.

荷蘭進行的這項研究和其他調查顯示，相比獨居和缺乏社交紐帶，人們對個人境遇的感知可能會對健康產生更劇烈的影響。離異人羣表示，身處不幸的婚姻中，比獨身更讓他們感到孤苦。而獨居的人或許擁有着一個龐大的親友團，幫助他們擊退孤獨感。

But according to Dr. Cacioppo, having many friends and family members around does not guarantee immunity from loneliness if the relationships are missing a strong emotional connection. The quality of these relationships — how meaningful they are to the individual — counts more than numbers in predicting loneliness, his studies and others have shown.

但卡西普奧認爲，如果社交關係缺乏強有力的情感聯繫，就算有衆多親友在側，也無法擔保人們能對孤獨感刀槍不入。他和其他人的研究發現，社交關係的質量——也就是它對個體的意義有多麼重大——比起數量，更能有效地揭示人們的孤獨感。

People are fundamentally social beings who require meaningful connections with others to maximize health and well-being. Dr. Cacioppo suggests reaching out to others with “random acts of kindness”: doing something that helps them physically or emotionally, maybe something as simple as complimenting a stranger’s outfit, leaving behind the change in a coffee machine, or helping an old person carry groceries or cross the street.

人類本質上是社交生物，需要通過與他人建立有意義的聯繫來最大限度地取得健康與幸福感。卡西普奧建議大家可以做“隨機的友善舉動”，向他人遞去橄欖枝：做些可以在身體或情感上有益他人的事情，哪怕只是易如反掌的小事，比如恭維一個陌生人的穿着，用完公用咖啡機後換上新濾紙，幫老人提購物袋或過馬路。

Next, try seeking out social activities that help others while fostering social contacts, like volunteering in a soup kitchen, reading to the blind or assisting in a classroom. Such actions can result in what Dr. Cacioppo calls the “helper’s high, ” establish new friendships and counter a feeling of aloneness.

接下來，可以嘗試參與幫助別人的社會活動，同時締結社交聯繫，比如去施粥場做義工，給盲人讀書，或去學校幫忙。這些行動可產生卡西奧波所謂的“幫助者高潮”，認識新朋友，同時抵禦孤獨感的侵襲。

“What’s required, ” he wrote, “is to step outside the pain of our own situation long enough to ‘feed’ others. Real change begins with doing.” You won’t know whether what you do will result in a genuine connection to another person unless you try.

“你需要做的，”他寫道，“是從你個人身處的痛苦中走出來，去‘哺育’他人。真正的改變要從行動開始。”只有開始嘗試，你纔會知道自己做的事情是否能讓你和別人建立真正的感情。

While I have always been outgoing, since my husband’s death I’ve tried even harder to connect with people in ways that make us all feel good. For example, on learning that an acquaintance at the Y needed pants from a store I was going to pass, I offered to get them for her, an exchange that enriched us both.

我一直爲人外向，自丈夫去世後，我更努力地與別人交往，好讓大家都覺得高興。比方說，聽說在基督教青年會(YMCA)的一位熟人想去一家商店取褲子，而我剛好要打那兒路過，於是我主動幫她取了，這樁小事讓我倆都得到了快樂。