We believe that man is a social animal -an integral part of the social structure. The society he is a part of (along with other factors) has a lot of influence on his thought process, value system and lifestyle.

Some people who care little about the society and the harmonious surrounding have a very different way of thinking and dealing with life. Most of us have been trained by our family and culture to follow the social norms and orders and boost social contacts.

Social isolation is complete lack of contact between an individual and the society. It may be due to various reasons like betrayal, health issues, constant failure that has forced one to hide from his or her social life, lack of confidence to interact, agoraphobia, experiences of the past, economic hardships and transport issues.

Studies done over two decades that involved more than 37000 people showed that social isolation can double the chance of sickness and death. In 1987 a report said “Isolation is as significant to mortality rates as smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity and lack of physical exercise.”

In case of men, isolation is harder than in case of women. Isolated men are two to three times more likely to die compared to men with more social ties. Social isolation has various effects on the mind and the body-there are changes in the sleep pattern, signs of depression, hallucination, cardiovascular disorder and other mental health issues.

Being mechanical drains the emotional content and hence for the well being of the mind and the heart, a two way communication is very important. Laughter adds glory to one’s mental health. Being connected to others is very different from staying together every time, trusting, gradually becoming an extrovert, being socially over dependent or loving too much. It just means not alienating oneself and staying in one’s cocoon.

A minimum level of social interaction with like-minded people raises one’s vibration. So if one has plans to isolate oneself he or she must remember that this may have adverse psychological effect on them in the long run. Emotional health should be one’s life-long priority.