Loneliness Can Hurt More Than the Heart
孤寂不只傷心 還會傷身
By Jane E. Brody

I now know why I gained more than 30 pounds in my early 20s: I was lonely. I had left for school and a job in the Upper Midwest and I knew no on. I filled my lonely nights and days with food, especially candy, cookies and ice cream. I could not rein in my eating until I returned to New York and my family, and began dating my future husband.
我現在總算知道，為什麼我20多歲時，體重會暴增30多磅：我當時很孤寂。我為了就學與一個工作機會而前往人生地不熟的上中西部地區（編按：美國中西部地區的北部地帶，並無明確定義）。我以食物，尤其是糖果、餅乾與冰淇淋填補每個孤寂的白天及夜晚。在回到紐約與家人的身邊，然後開始與我後來的丈夫約會之前，我始終克制不了這種吃的習慣。

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.
曾經獲獎的芝加哥大學心理學家卡希奧波表示，「孤寂」減損人們自我節制的能力。在他引用的一項實驗中，覺得沒有朋友的實驗對象吃掉的餅乾比自覺有朋友者多。

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 University of California, Los Angeles, Loneliness Scale, a widely used psychological assessment, ate more fatty foods than those who scored low.
在一項以芝加哥中年人與老人為對象的現實研究中，卡希奧波與同事發現，在廣泛運用的洛杉磯加大「孤寂量表」中分數較高者，吃掉的高脂食物比分數較低者多。

“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.
卡希奧波在與派屈克合寫的名著「孤寂」中指出：「如果我們枯坐家中，自覺極為孤寂，訴諸冰淇淋或其他高脂食物有啥奇怪？」

He said 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.
卡希奧波表示，孤寂的人傾向於做任何能讓心情好些的事，哪怕心情改變只是一時的。他們可能暴飲暴食、酗酒、吸菸、超速或從事性濫交。

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.
他表示，根據1988年發表的一項研究檢討報告，「社交隔絕是與高血壓、肥胖、缺少運動或吸菸等量齊觀的疾病及早死風險因子」。

Even without the presence of 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.
卡希奧波等人證明，即使沒有不良習慣，孤寂仍會危害健康，因為它會使壓力賀爾蒙及發炎現象增加 。這種傷害可能範圍廣泛，影響身體的每一個系統與大腦功能。

Lisa Jaremka, of Ohio State University reported in January 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.
俄亥俄州立大學的莉莎‧賈倫卡今年元月表示，自認孤寂者體內特定疹病毒抗體較多，顯示身體系統內活躍病毒較多。她在另一研究中發現，孤寂者血液中發炎誘發物質也比較多。

Chronic inflammation has been linked to heart disease, arthritis, Type 2 diabetes and even suicide attempts, Dr. Jaremka noted.
賈倫卡指出，慢性發炎與心臟病、關節炎、第二型糖尿病甚至自殺念頭有關。

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.
孤獨與認知能力衰退也有關。根據去年「神經學、神經外科學與精神醫學」期刊發表的一項荷蘭研究報告，自覺孤寂的實驗對象（無論周圍有多少親友）比獨居但不覺孤寂者更易罹患痴呆症。

The Dutch study 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.
根據這項研究報告，一個人如何感受自身處境對健康的影響，可能大於當事人是否獨居並缺少社交關係。離婚者多數認為，婚姻不美滿比單身更讓他們感到孤寂。獨居者仍然可以擁有有益身心健康的龐大親友網絡。

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 or helping an old person cross the street.
基本上，人是群體動物，需與其他個體發生有意義的互動以營造最大的身心健康與福祉。卡希奧波的建議是，「以不經意的仁慈行為」去與他人接觸，做些對別人身體或情緒有幫助的事，可以簡單到像是讚美一名陌生人的穿著，或者攙扶一名老人過馬路。

“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.”
他說：「必須做到的是，勇敢走出自己痛苦的處境，而且持續得夠久，用以『餵養』他人。真正的改變從起而行開始。」

原文參照：
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/13/shaking-off-loneliness/

2013-06-04聯合報/G5版/UNITEDDAILYNEWS陳世欽譯 原文參見紐時週報十版下