Last week, the United Kingdom appointed a Minister for Loneliness to address the finding that nine million British people often or always feel lonely. To some, this may come as a surprise.

上周，英国任命了一位部长来处理孤独的问题，即九百万英国人经常或总是感到孤独。对于有些人来说，这可能很令人意外。

It should not. Loneliness and social isolation are on the rise, leading many to call it an epidemic.

人们可能会觉得没必要这样。但孤独和社交孤立的人数一直在上升，从而导致很多人称之为传染病。

In recent decades, the number of people with zero confidants has tripled, and most adults do not belong to a local community group.

在最近的数十年里，没有知己朋友的人数增至三倍，而且大多数成年人并不属于当地的社区群体。

Consequently, more than one third of Americans over the age of 45 report feeling lonely, with prevalence especially high among those under 25 and over 65 years old.

因此，超过三分之一的45岁以上的美国人感到很孤独，尤其在25岁以下和65岁以上的人中，这种情况更为普遍。

“We live in the most technologically connected age in the history of civilization,” writes the former U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek H. Murthy, “yet rates of loneliness have doubled since the 1980s.”

前美国卫生局局长维韦克·H·默西博士写道：“我们生活在文明史上最具科技联系的时代，但是，自20世纪80年代以来，人们的孤独率却增长了一倍。

While this alarming trend has grown, so has understanding of its impact. By now, the evidence is abundant and decisive: social connection significantly affects health.

尽管这令人担忧的趋势有所增长，但是人们对它的影响也有了更多的理解。到目前为止，证据充足且具有决定性：社会关系很大程度上影响着人们的健康。

When you believe that you have people in your life who care about you, and you interact with them regularly, you are better off.

如果你认为在你的生活中有关心你的人，并且你经常与他们联系，那么你就会生活得更好。

For instance, you may be less likely to catch a cold, have a stroke or heart disease, slip into early cognitive decline, and develop depression. You may even be more likely to overcome socio-economic disadvantages, recover quickly from illness, and live longer.

比如，你可能很少会患感冒，患中风或心脏病，认知能力提前衰退，或患上抑郁症。你甚至更有可能会克服社会经济上的不利条件，迅速恢复健康，并且活得更久。

A study at Harvard University that followed hundreds of people for 75 years identified the quality of people’s relationships as the single clearest predictor of their physical health, longevity, and quality of life.

在哈佛大学进行的一项跟踪数百人长达75年的研究表明，人们的人际关系质量是他们身体健康、寿命长短和生活质量的最清晰的一个预测指标。

（来源：爱语吧）