Lack of Social Support and Loneliness Leads to Physical Challenges - Essay Example

According to the studies, the lack of social connections does not only lead to emotional discomfort, but it also has a damaging impact on the physical, as well as mental health of an individual. This clearly implies that most people require social contact and whenever it is not provided as expected, they tend to be subjected to long-lasting suffering. Certainly, it is undisputed fact that David’s condition makes him a victim of such experiences. With his condition, David who is subjected to loneliness is at risk of experiencing a relapse. Given that type 2 diabetes is among the lifelong diseases, David who is suffering from this condition is bound to encounter various health risks.

According to House (2001), there is a close association between health risks and social isolation and they compare quite closely in magnitude to well-known dangers of diabetes. According to Brummett et al (2001), persons who frequently suffer from lifelong diseases such as cancer, diabetes, report feelings of loneliness and lack social connections and end up with increased rates of mortality and morbidity. Other studies carried out by Cohen et al (1997), and Pressman et al (2005), show that persons lacking social connections suffer from infections, cognitive decline, as well as depression. However, when it is compared to health behaviour including obesity and smoking, there is little known concerning why and how social isolation impacts health (House, 1988).

In conclusion, David who is suffering from a chronic disease often known to have a wide range of social isolation indicators that pose health risks is bound to physical challenges.