Why It’s Important to Stay Social As You Age

You’ve no doubt heard that staying social as we age is important. But why?

If you’ve completed an adult gerontology degree online, you’ll know that cultivating positive social connections can help aging individuals stave off the serious side effects of loneliness and isolation. 

But being socially active is not only good for our emotional health as we get older. Studies have shown that socializing regularly also supports older adults’ physical health and cognitive function, even reducing the risk of developing dementia. 

And of course, maintaining an active social life in our later years also helps keep us connected and in touch with reality. 

Let’s discuss.  

Being Socially Active is Good for Our Physical and Mental Health

Socializing with others can be likened to doing mental gymnastics. Engaging in lively, thought-provoking conversations with others helps keep us on our toes, keeping the brain active and getting neurons firing. This is essential in our elderly years, where maintaining healthy cognitive function is essential.

Staying social can also result in reduced stress and decreased depression in seniors, which can lead to better physical health. How? The link between our mental and emotional health and their impact on our physical condition has been well-documented. When you’re in a positive state of mind, you will most often feel physically stronger, more capable, and healthier overall.

What’s more? Social activity can support older adults in combatting the health risks of extreme isolation and loneliness. 

Social Connection Staves off Loneliness and Isolation

In older adults, social isolation is common. In many cases, this can lead to feelings of extreme loneliness. And, according to recent research – loneliness in aging adults can pose serious health risks. Why? According to UCLA’s Professor of Medicine, Psychiatry, and Biobehavioral studies Steve Cole, it comes down to “the biology of loneliness”, which acts as a “fertilizer” for other diseases. 

In a perfectly demonstrated effect of the mind-body connection, the study asserts that loneliness doesn’t just have psychological effects – it also breaks down the healthy functioning of the body’s immune system, impairing its ability to fight off cancer cells and other diseases or stop the harmful buildup of toxic plaque in the arteries. According to this same study, loneliness can also lead to Alzheimer’s and dementia-causing inflammation in the brain. Extreme loneliness has also been linked to the development of other health concerns such as anxiety and depression, high blood pressure, organ disease, and even death in some cases. 

On the flip side, maintaining an active social life as we get older can help combat loneliness, and reduce the risk of developing these types of isolation-related health conditions. 

Staying Social Keeps Us Connected and In Touch with Reality

It cannot be denied – staying social keeps us young. How? By keeping the brain active, and by ensuring that we stay connected and in touch with reality. 

Often, socially isolated older adults can find themselves on the fringe of society. Out of touch and past their heydey, it can feel challenging to feel connected to a community that keeps changing. Old-fashioned values, attitudes, and beliefs can quickly start to feel out of place, leading us to a sense of disconnectedness and displacement as we age.

How to combat this as we age? Stay up to date and in touch with current affairs by reading the local and international news. Also, be sure to build up a connection with younger generations. Take a genuine interest in the lives of your grandchildren, for example. Don’t have grandkids of your own? Look out for intergenerational community projects like the “Big and Mini” initiative. These community outlook programs promote social connectedness between generations and help the elderly combat the social isolation many experience as they get older.

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Are you still wondering why it’s essential to stay social in our later years?

As discussed, being social is not just good for your mental and emotional health. It can also promote a better level of physical health, as well as reduce the risk of developing health conditions linked to social isolation and loneliness.

By staying connected, in touch with reality, and socially active, older adults can enjoy a better quality of life, and live out their later years in the best possible state of health.