{"id":12854,"date":"2017-11-28T07:00:32","date_gmt":"2017-11-28T13:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.senioradvisor.com\/blog\/?p=12854"},"modified":"2020-10-14T11:29:52","modified_gmt":"2020-10-14T16:29:52","slug":"why-loneliness-is-bad-for-mens-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/d30braiqprupoq.cloudfront.net\/blog\/2017\/11\/why-loneliness-is-bad-for-mens-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Loneliness Is Bad for Men&#8217;s Health"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Why Loneliness Is Bad for Men&#8217;s Health<\/h1>\n<p>It\u2019s November and that means people are talking about men\u2019s health. The <a href=\"https:\/\/us.movember.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Movember movement<\/strong><\/a> uses this month to raise awareness of men\u2019s health and funding for research that can help men live longer, healthier lives. When you think of men\u2019s health issues, your mind probably goes to issues like cancer and heart disease. Though those are issues of importance to senior men, one of the biggest dangers they face is actually loneliness.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-12918\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/img.prod.aplaceformom.com\/main\/uploads\/sa-blog\/2017\/11\/why-loneliness-is-bad-for-mens-health-350x184.jpg\" alt=\"Why Loneliness Is Bad for Men's Health\" width=\"350\" height=\"184\" srcset=\"https:\/\/s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/img.prod.aplaceformom.com\/main\/uploads\/sa-blog\/2017\/11\/why-loneliness-is-bad-for-mens-health-350x184.jpg 350w, https:\/\/s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/img.prod.aplaceformom.com\/main\/uploads\/sa-blog\/2017\/11\/why-loneliness-is-bad-for-mens-health-768x403.jpg 768w, https:\/\/s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/img.prod.aplaceformom.com\/main\/uploads\/sa-blog\/2017\/11\/why-loneliness-is-bad-for-mens-health-1024x538.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/img.prod.aplaceformom.com\/main\/uploads\/sa-blog\/2017\/11\/why-loneliness-is-bad-for-mens-health.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>We can all agree that loneliness is bad, but not many people understand just how prevalent it is in men and how\u00a0much of a problem it truly is.<\/p>\n<h2>Loneliness Isn\u2019t Just About Mental Health<\/h2>\n<p>When a doctor provides a physical diagnosis and prescribes treatment,\u00a0most people\u00a0take it pretty seriously.\u00a0Unfortunately, when it comes to mental health issues, society often dismisses the problems and deems them as unimportant.<\/p>\n<p>This way of thinking is harmful, because loneliness doesn\u2019t just make you unhappy; it has real, substantive effects on your physical health.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.senioradvisor.com\/blog\/2016\/01\/the-very-real-dangers-of-senior-loneliness\/\"><strong>Research has found<\/strong><\/a> that loneliness leads to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A higher likelihood of catching the flu<\/li>\n<li>An increased risk of Alzheimer\u2019s<\/li>\n<li>Higher blood pressure in seniors<\/li>\n<li>Higher rates of death<\/li>\n<li>Worse cognitive performance<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>All of these effects of loneliness are made worse by the fact that a senior that\u2019s socially isolated won\u2019t have anyone to turn to for help. If you don\u2019t have a spouse, close family members or friends to turn to when you get sick, what can you do?<\/p>\n<h2>Solutions to Senior Male Loneliness<\/h2>\n<p>Loneliness isn&#8217;t specific to senior men;\u00a0it is a problem for everyone that experiences it.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Men are at higher risk of it than women and seniors are at a higher risk of it than the rest of the population. That makes it a particularly big issue for senior men.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The first step to overcoming the risks of senior male loneliness is to realize it\u2019s an issue and commit to doing something about it. Now that that part\u2019s done, here are five other things you can do to start fixing the problem before it becomes a bigger issue in your life:<\/p>\n<h3>1. Go to the gym.<\/h3>\n<p>Hear me out here \u2013 yes, you\u2019ve been told your whole life to exercise and you\u2019re probably tired of it. But going to your local gym gives you an incentive to be healthier and provides a lot of opportunities to meet other people going to the gym. You can even look into the classes they offer (and they may have some that focus on seniors) so your trip to the gym is a social experience.<\/p>\n<h3>2. Move to a retirement community.<\/h3>\n<p>For a lot of seniors, loneliness becomes a bigger issue once you live alone and start to have a harder time getting out of the house regularly. Before you reach that point, consider moving to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.senioradvisor.com\/independent-living\"><strong>retirement community<\/strong><\/a>. Not only will you be around lots of people close to your age, but most communities regularly schedule classes and events.<\/p>\n<p>If the work of maintaining friendships sounds like a lot to you, moving into the same neighborhood or building as a lot of potential friends and having a social calendar created for you pretty much takes all the work out of the equation. All you have to do is show up.<\/p>\n<h3>3. Proactively suggest social time with friends.<\/h3>\n<p>Think about it: are there men you\u2019ve started to befriend over the years, only to let the relationship fall by the wayside because neither of you put in the effort to keep it going? Brainstorm who those people are and get back in touch. Be the one who does the job of organizing times to meet up and do something together. Consider making it a regular thing \u2013 encourage a group of male friends to all get together the same time every week. Once it\u2019s routine, you\u2019ll be less likely to let the planning slide.<\/p>\n<h3>4. Take up a (social) hobby.<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/science\/2017\/feb\/20\/key-to-keeping-friendships-alive-different-for-men-and-women-scientists-say\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Research supports an idea<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0that may be intuitive to many men: men usually need a shared activity to build friendships with other men around. One of the best things senior men can do to reduce loneliness is to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aplaceformom.com\/blog\/1-16-17-why-senior-men-need-a-hobby\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>figure out a hobby<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0to commit to. Now obviously, it can\u2019t be a solitary hobby. Picking up woodworking in your garage alone won\u2019t do the trick here. But something like bingo, golf or improv that gets you out with other people on a regular basis is a good start.<\/p>\n<h3>5. Volunteer.<\/h3>\n<p>All those years you were working, you didn\u2019t have time to do much volunteering. But now that you\u2019re retired and have more free time to work with, think about the causes or institutions you\u2019re passionate about and look into volunteer opportunities that will be meaningful to you. That could mean getting involved with local political groups, heading to the homeless shelter to help out once a week, or starting to volunteer at your local museum \u2013 whatever volunteer route you choose, you\u2019ll meet other people with similar interests and values once you get there.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re feeling lonely, don\u2019t dismiss it. It\u2019s not a weakness to feel socially isolated and it\u2019s not a hopeless state of being you just have to live with. By just taking a few steps, you can start to build and maintain friendships in your life, no matter your age. You just have to recognize the need and start doing it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why Loneliness Is Bad for Men&#8217;s Health It\u2019s November and that means people are talking about men\u2019s health. The Movember movement uses this month to raise awareness of men\u2019s health and funding for research that can help men live longer, healthier lives. When you think of men\u2019s health issues, your mind probably goes to issues like cancer and heart disease. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2199,"featured_media":12918,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[200,4,35],"tags":[624,45,623],"class_list":{"0":"post-12854","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-families-caregivers","8":"category-independent-living","9":"category-senior-health-fitness","10":"tag-mental-health","11":"tag-senior-health","12":"tag-senior-loneliness"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Why Loneliness Is Bad for Men&#039;s Health<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"One of the biggest dangers to senior men&#039;s health is one that isn&#039;t as obvious as cancer or heart disease: it&#039;s loneliness. 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