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The Antidote to Loneliness Is Good Social Nutrition
Humans need a balanced social diet of a few meaningful conversations and many casual interactions
Balance is a celebrated, yet elusive, concept. In work, relationships, hobbies, and even what we choose to put into our bodies, we strive to strike the right proportion of give and take that leaves us feeling fulfilled and not overextended. The idea of balance also applies to social interactions.
In 2019, Jeffrey Hall, a professor of communication studies at the University of Kansas likened human social networks to nutrition. A healthy social diet, he found in a study, consists of both a variety of interactions — from close friends and family to acquaintances — and time spent alone. People tend to be less lonely when they have a couple of high-quality conversations a day with their closest connections (like a deep heart-to-heart or a jovial laugh-filled gab) in addition to a variety of more surface-level chats with strangers or people seen out and about. Voluntary alone time is also crucial to well-being. Making space to reflect and recharge is essential.
Maintaining a nutritious social diet has proven difficult this past year. Those who live with family or roommates likely strengthened these already sturdy bonds. Close connections continued to keep in touch while fringe friends fell to the wayside. Solo dwellers who previously did all their socializing outside of the house — at work, at the gym, at the bar, volunteering — saw their networks constrict to those close enough to warrant a phone call or distanced get together. The social variety so essential to our happiness has become bland, nearly out of reach.
Still, as people are vaccinated and slowly reemerge into new patterns, there are ways to restore that diversity, even while masked and at a distance.
Prioritize close ties
The first component of the social equation is meaningful interaction with close connections. Regardless of how well (or not) you maintained those relationships over the last year, take a concentrated effort to make plans with those you’re closest to, Hall says. “Now that the weather has improved in most of North America, make plans to go outside and catch up with…
