<story><title>80-year Harvard study has been showing how to live a healthy and happy life</title><url>http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2017/04/over-nearly-80-years-harvard-study-has-been-showing-how-to-live-a-healthy-and-happy-life/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>rubicon33</author><text>What I take from this article is that social interaction is extremely important to ones health, and it&amp;#x27;s something that we largely taken for granted.  In the age of computers and secluded work environments, I think we need to be aware of the effect that even casual interaction has on our mental and physical health.  I have some personal&amp;#x2F;anecdotal experience which back this research up and affirms my belief that communication and interaction with others is vital.&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#x27;ve been working from home for a number of years.  During this time I&amp;#x27;ve on average spoken with and interacted with 1 person every day - my wife.&lt;p&gt;I occasionally go out, occasionally see family members, but the majority of my day-to-day work is quiet, alone, working at a computer.&lt;p&gt;-  I have been more sick in recent years than ever before in my life.  This is even compared to previously living in a major city and taking public transportation.&lt;p&gt;-  I have been experiencing sharp mental decline especially in the last year.  Solving complex problems is much more challenging.&lt;p&gt;-  My memory is suffering.  Even my wife has begun to notice, I forget little things and have developed an &amp;quot;aloof professor&amp;quot; disposition that wasn&amp;#x27;t natural to me.&lt;p&gt;-  I now find social interaction more difficult.  I&amp;#x27;m more akward, and find myself over-thinking previously natural interactions.&lt;p&gt;-  Lastly ... I&amp;#x27;m far more depressed.  I just don&amp;#x27;t enjoy much these days.  I wake up, work, don&amp;#x27;t talk to many people.&lt;p&gt;The TLDR here is that I urge everyone to tend to their social garden.  I let mine decay for too long, and I&amp;#x27;m paying the price now.  I am beginning the process of restoring connections, and getting out more, and I&amp;#x27;m already noticing an improved mood.&lt;p&gt;Oh and I should mention - I&amp;#x27;m naturally an introvert so this reclusive lifestyle was all too comfortable for me.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>kevstev</author><text>I went from very brutal environments (massively stressful jobs in algorithmic trading, generally sitting on loud trading floors with late hours, weekends, etc) to working remotely and found almost the opposite.&lt;p&gt;Instead of being sick several times a year- we would literally watch colds and other illnesses work their way up and down the rows, I instead got sick maybe once a year.&lt;p&gt;Solving problems in a nice quiet room with no coworker conversations around me improved my ability to concentrate and do the hard things 10x.&lt;p&gt;Social interaction is a mixed bag. My last two jobs I was surrounded by a bunch of people who hated their work, and we only really bonded over the fact that we would rather be literally anywhere else. My remote coworkers all get along great, and it would be nice to spend more face time with them, but I have an active personal social life so that helps.&lt;p&gt;I think you are missing a big piece here though- and that&amp;#x27;s activity. I take my dog on long walks and generally like to bike around town (I live in a city) but it requires much more of an active effort. Luckily I eat a lot better and much less than I used to. I don&amp;#x27;t keep junk food or really any prepared foods in the house.&lt;p&gt;YMMV.</text></comment>
<story><title>80-year Harvard study has been showing how to live a healthy and happy life</title><url>http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2017/04/over-nearly-80-years-harvard-study-has-been-showing-how-to-live-a-healthy-and-happy-life/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>rubicon33</author><text>What I take from this article is that social interaction is extremely important to ones health, and it&amp;#x27;s something that we largely taken for granted.  In the age of computers and secluded work environments, I think we need to be aware of the effect that even casual interaction has on our mental and physical health.  I have some personal&amp;#x2F;anecdotal experience which back this research up and affirms my belief that communication and interaction with others is vital.&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#x27;ve been working from home for a number of years.  During this time I&amp;#x27;ve on average spoken with and interacted with 1 person every day - my wife.&lt;p&gt;I occasionally go out, occasionally see family members, but the majority of my day-to-day work is quiet, alone, working at a computer.&lt;p&gt;-  I have been more sick in recent years than ever before in my life.  This is even compared to previously living in a major city and taking public transportation.&lt;p&gt;-  I have been experiencing sharp mental decline especially in the last year.  Solving complex problems is much more challenging.&lt;p&gt;-  My memory is suffering.  Even my wife has begun to notice, I forget little things and have developed an &amp;quot;aloof professor&amp;quot; disposition that wasn&amp;#x27;t natural to me.&lt;p&gt;-  I now find social interaction more difficult.  I&amp;#x27;m more akward, and find myself over-thinking previously natural interactions.&lt;p&gt;-  Lastly ... I&amp;#x27;m far more depressed.  I just don&amp;#x27;t enjoy much these days.  I wake up, work, don&amp;#x27;t talk to many people.&lt;p&gt;The TLDR here is that I urge everyone to tend to their social garden.  I let mine decay for too long, and I&amp;#x27;m paying the price now.  I am beginning the process of restoring connections, and getting out more, and I&amp;#x27;m already noticing an improved mood.&lt;p&gt;Oh and I should mention - I&amp;#x27;m naturally an introvert so this reclusive lifestyle was all too comfortable for me.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>aaron-lebo</author><text>You mention that this is anecdotal, anyway, but stress to yourself that it is &lt;i&gt;anecdotal&lt;/i&gt;.&lt;p&gt;You sound depressed and you mention that social interaction might be the cause, but is it not possible that you are finding your work unfulfilling, that&amp;#x27;s causing depression and the rest follows?&lt;p&gt;I only say this because I&amp;#x27;ve worked long stretches more or less alone with limited social interaction (didn&amp;#x27;t have a wife around) and didn&amp;#x27;t suffer any of those symptoms, but that&amp;#x27;s an anecdote for you. I did suffer those symptoms when depressed, though, and that didn&amp;#x27;t take solitude.&lt;p&gt;Some people are very happy with solitude and there&amp;#x27;s no hard rule that it affects everyone the same.</text></comment>