While you may have seen some people say they are suffering from depression, it may feel somewhat awkward to hear that one is going through loneliness. This is because depression has been considered as a common mental health problem for quite a long time, leading the majority of people to have a high social awareness regarding this issue. It is difficult to be honest when it comes to loneliness, since we are afraid that people might assume us as unlikeable and judge us as overly dependent on others.

   Despite our groundless fear, loneliness is, in fact, more than just a small personal problem. It is one of the common emotions that humans feel, and it can be seen as a signal such as hunger or thirst that we receive from our bodies when we lack things essential for survival. The United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps shows us how fatal loneliness can be; it is associated with an approximately 30 percent increase in premature deaths, which is equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes daily. Loneliness was not a new concept that appeared out of the blue, but it seems that the endless times of social distanc- ing during the pandemic have deepened the problem.

  I felt the aftereffects of quarantine myself a while ago, spending half of April and May of this year at a high school during my teaching practice course. The majority of teachers collectively said that students in their first year were struggling from serious depression. They were incapable of socializing after an inevitably long period of online classes, and this was making their time at school more challenging without friends and teachers to rely on. In this sense, isolation and loneliness do not end as mere feelings. Severe problems follow after, such as anxiety, low productivity in work and studies, and physical disease at worst.

   Loneliness is no longer a trivial feeling that everyone should be hiding. It is now one of the tasks that our society should solve as a whole to take care of ourselves. The most effective remedy for loneliness is obviously to build social relationships, which can also be called “social fitness.” Just as we go to the fitness center for our physical health, we can get healthier in terms of mentality through social fitness by making connections with a sense of gratitude, sympathy, and altruism toward others. Social connection does not have to begin only with your closest ones. It can even be made with those you just normally rush past every day – your neighbor, bus driver, cashier, and even people on the same subway. Saying a bright and simple “Have a nice day” to your shop assistant with a smile can be the start of connection that we lost during the pandemic.

  To be honest, I was actually one of the rugged individualists, isolating myself especially when placed in new environments. After weeks of greeting everyone at school during my teaching practice with a smile though it was from a bit sense of duty, I could verify the fact that oxytocin, one of our happy hormones that plays a major role in relieving our stress, secretes when we make positive face-to-face interaction with people.        
  
  So, if you were currently in the process of putting effort going to the gym or taking vitamins for your health, or are willing to from this moment, how about adding social fitness on your list? It might be the fastest, most effective nutrition supplement for your well-being.