Determining Quality of Life
Do regular, close, supportive social connections increase quality of life? And is Austin on the right track in supporting its residents?
There are many factors at play when determining ‘quality is life’. Today, social connections are one the key elements to a happy and healthy life. Social connection used to be so vital in our daily lives. It was our safety net; it made daily life less stressful and more secure. Thousands of years ago “if you had more social connections, you were more likely to rely on other to protect yourselves from predators. The social connection became protective in a way” (Kluger 2017).
This protective relationship with social connection became so ingrained in our human characteristics that when one feels “socially disconnected”, that places one into “a physiologic stress state.” (Kluger 2017)
Dr. Vivek Murphy (former U.S. Surgeon General) stated, “the most common pathology or illness that I was seeing was in fact, not diabetes or heart disease. It was, in fact, loneliness” (Kluger 2017). Loneliness can affect anyone at any time. “socially isolated Americans are those at greatest risk of poor health and early mortality” (Umberson 2010). You could have someone who is very active on social media and have thousands of followers or even be married, yet they “feel profoundly alone” (Kluger 2017). Today even more so, as people have the ability and opportunity to spread out far and wide. People can change jobs or move a new city with greater ease than ever before. “So millennials are no longer in there family of origin. Most of them are living on their own, and it can be fairly lonely” (Kluger 2017).
Even in young children, who seem to be friends with everyone at that age, “psychiatric symptoms were strongly associated with loneliness.” (Lempinen 2017). So what if individuals were not lonely and still had strong ties with their family?
In the small comune of Villagrande in Italy, men and women are living well past 100 years old. And this is no fluke, it is the only place in the world where men live as long as women. Villagrande is very tight-knit and the people have very many close relationships. This is supported by how their families take care of one another. Many modern families have large families but are more often than not spread apart; whether by oceans, state borders, or even just neighboring cities. But in Villagrande the young take care of the old and love doing so. Close relationships are also important and were roughly defined by Pinker as people who would “take you to the hospital, sit and chat with you, give you a loan if you needed it.” But what out matched this as well as not smoking, exercising, clean air and even being healthy was in fact social integration. This pertains to how you interact with people as you go throughout your day. For example, “do you talk to the guy who makes your coffee… deliveries your mail… is in your book club…” and so on (Pinker 2017).
So what is making these people live such long lives? A researcher named Julianne Holt-Lunstad addressed this very question. She questioned many middle aged people about aspects of their lifestyle, such as “their diet, their exercise, their marital status, how often they went to the doctor, whether they smoked or drank, etc” (Pinker 2017). After the data was collected and a fews years past she produced this chart.
So, social integration is supposedly a powerful predict of how long you’ll live. It may be “compelling to many who are enculturated to view longevity as some sort of quality of life measurement” (Randy 2018). Living a long life is great, but it certainly does not guarantee happiness. So then how about the second most powerful predictor; close relationships. Close relationships involve social interaction, and this has time and time again proven to be dramatically beneficial for ones health.
Face-to-face interactions can “release a whole cascade of neurotransmitters” (Pinker 2017). These interactions can raise dopamine levels, reduce stress, increases levels of trust. Who wouldn’t want that? This does not apply to contact through text on our phones. There is simply a lack of engagement with each other when it is not face to face.
This is evident across the world. In Japan those who are “involved in social networks leads to less psychological distress among middle-aged adults” (Fu 2017). Social support and interaction can “be used as an approach to addressing a variety of mental health problems” (Leach 2015). Even in China where suicide rates among elderly citizens is on the rise, “social relationships may be helpful to early identification of elderly individuals at risk” (Chang 2018).
And even in Costa Rica; deemed the happiness country in the world, many atribute this to “Costa Ricans’ high wellbeing to a culture of forming solid social networks of friends, families and neighbourhoods” (Costa Rica 2018). This is a country whose GDP per capita is “less than a quarter of the size of many Western European and North American countries” and is making tireless efforts towards sustainable practices and putting citizens money back into their community. Costa Rica abolished its army and have “since reallocated army funds to be spent on education, health and pensions” (Costa Rica 2018). This is almost unheard of in the United States.
So this idea “that good, close relationships are good for our health and well-being” is “wisdom that’s as old as the hills” (Waldinger 2015). So why is it so hard to achieve and so easy to overlook? Well we have shifted to less patient and more lazy humans, we want a quick fix. We want something that is instantly rewarding. Unlike relationships, which require lifelong maintenance and attention. In Waldinger’s survey, many of the men “starting out as young adults really believed that fame and wealth and high achievement were what they need to go after to have a good life.” But ultimately those who “fared best” were those who “leaned in to relationships, with family, with friends, with community” (Waldinger 2015).
Our society has been making a gradual shift to becoming more socially isolated. Neighbors becoming strangers, a lack of friendly smiles at the grocery store, or even many individuals obvious obsession with their smartphones. This is bad for our society and it is actually having negative health effects on people. With our “10,000 year enculturation into “civilization” we, essentially stone-age creatures, now live in comparative isolation and estrangement” (Randy 2018).
So what can be done? Cities around the globe are starting to focus on it residents and their level of envolvement as well as happiness. And Austin isn’t too far behind.
Everyone in Austin knows of the rising population issue. The population of Austin has doubled every 25 years since its founding. Austin does a good job of letting people be themselves. National Geographic ranked Austin as the 25th happiness city in the United States. In the happier places “locals smile and laugh more often, socialize several hours a day, have access to green spaces, and feel that they are making purposeful progress toward achieving life goals” (Stone 2017).
Austin is making great strides in shaping the city to be more accessible and uplifting for all. Just recently they finished a fantastic new public library, rerouting the current buses to reach more of the population and improve efficiency, as well as making the city more bike-able. There is actually a “high correlation between bikeability and happiness in a city” (Stone 2017). Austin also has great access to green space is unparalleled compared to most major cities in Texas. All this activity in the city gets people out and mingling. And that is key to a happy city; social connections.
Parks are a centre of community. And Austin utilizes its park tremendously. Zilker Park annually hosts ACL (Austin City Limits), which brings all walks of life together for a 3 day music festival. This allows people to express themselves and to come out of their shells. A release if you will. Beyond that both big and small parks are a great way for “neighborhood residents to interact with each other and meet new people” (Casandra 2013). Parks can also be praised for their natural beauty. It serine environment and nature aspect to it is itself therapeutic and relieves stress. Another natural promoter of happiness is gardens.
So Austin is on the right track to keeping its residents happy and active. But with an ever-growing population housing becomes a more and more concerning issue. Therefore co-housing has become a growing trend in the US. Troy Evans, the founder of ‘Commonspace’, understands the importance of social relationships. Evans supports co-housing as it is like a little neighborhood in one building, and “when you walk into a room that has a high energy, has people thinking creatively, its contagious and gets in your state of mind and changes your emotional state” (Kluger 2017). To validate this I went to a UT student co-op to get some information of my own.
I conducted a small survey to gather information regarding co-ops and mental health. The participants were individuals who lived at a university cooperative. The length of their residence in a co-op ranged from 2 months to as long as 2.5 years. Every single participant stated that their social life and mental have improved since moving in. Each person also has their own sets of chores that can vary from week to week. This allows each resident to feel valued and have some form of contribution to a greater/collective good. Sharing the household chores also relieves some stress for the residents, knowing that someone else is ready and able to share the burden of cooking dinner, cleaning bathrooms, vacuuming, or even going to the grocery store.
At the very least, co-housing is immensely cheaper than living on your own. Saving money and creating social relationships, what a bargain!
Randy Jewart is a conservationist and runs ‘Resolution Gardens’ here in Austin. He helps Austin residents build and maintain both personal and community gardens. I spoke with him to discuss his views on social relationships and how it can affect our quality of life. He strongly believes in the connectivity of food and its importance in the years to come. Community gardens have their own problems, but a garden that is “accessible in a front yard or school yard will always attract passerby to stop and share in ways that always surprise. A garden is not a veggie factory, but a living microcosm of plants, insects, microorganism and people.” Randy used to be an artist but switched to gardening as he finds that “a garden opens a magical community space unlike any other” (Randy 2018). Where many traditions get diluted and lost in our globalized world, food and eating together remains. Randy believes we won’t be able to“improve our sustainability without building on the foundation of food production, because it provides the relational basis of humans to each other and the living world that informs our reality. And therefore our potential happiness and longevity” (Randy 2018).
As social animals we have a powerful desire to belong. When close relationships are met, people experience a better quality of life. So whether it be through gardening, going to a music festival, hobbies, co-housing, or even getting coffee with others; get out and socialize. Take care of yourself and support others. It may save your life.
Casandra. (2013). 8 Reasons Why Parks are Important. Green Ribbon. Retrieved February 9, 2018, from http://www.gardinergreenribbon.com/why-parks-are-important/
Chang, Q., & Yip, P. (2018, February 9). Strengthen social relationships to help combat high elderly suicide rate. Retrieved February 9, 2018, from http://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2132501/strengthen-social-relationships-help-combat-high-elderly
Costa Rica. (n.d.). Retrieved February 22, 2018, from http://happyplanetindex.org/countries/costa-rica
Fu, R., & Noguchi, H. (2017). Relation between social network and psychological distress among middle-aged adults in Japan: Evidence from a national longitudinal survey. Social Science & Medicine, 175, 58–65. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.12.043
Kluger, J. (2017). Why Americans of All Ages Are Embracing Communal Living. Retrieved February 21, 2018, from http://time.com/intentional-communities/
Leach, J. (2015). Improving Mental Health through Social Support. Retrieved February 23, 2018, from https://www.jkp.com/uk/improving-mental-health-through-social-support.html
Lempinen, L., & Junttila, N. (2017). Loneliness and friendships among eight-year-old children: time-trends over a 24-year period [Abstract]. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 59(2), 171–179. doi:10.1111/jcpp.12807
Pinker, S. (2017, September 4). Retrieved February 09, 2018, from https://ed.ted.com/featured/1fJ5KElL
Stone, G. (2017, October 21). These Are the Happiest Cities in the United States. Retrieved February 21, 2018, from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destinations/north-america/united-states/happiest-cities-united-states-2017/
Umberson, D., & Montez, J. K. (2010). Social Relationships and Health: A Flashpoint for Health Policy. Journal of Health and Social Behavior,51(1_suppl). doi:10.1177/0022146510383501
Waldinger, R. (2015, November). Retrieved February 21, 2018, from https://www.ted.com/talks/robert_waldinger_what_makes_a_good_life_lessons_from_the_longest_study_on_happiness/transcript#t-754914
Co-op survery performed by Alistair Jones.
Interviewed Randy Jewart through email.
