Two studies on isolation and its effects on the hormone

Humans are social creatures by nature, like all mammals, and so it stands to reason that the absence of social interaction is likely to be harmful to us, perhaps even severely harmful or fatal. Social stimuli exert powerful effects on our endocrine system, causing the release of various hormones with a wide variety of effects on our body. One of those hormones is, of course, testosterone.

Sexual stimuli, either the presence of an attractive member of the opposite sex, or just a pornographic video, can cause an almost immediate increase in testosterone levels in the blood, which lasts for at least six hours, and a corresponding decrease in levels of cortisol, the stress hormone. For this reason, I’ve suggested that it might be a good thing to surround yourself with scantily clad gym goers when you work out, so that you can take advantage of the natural testosterone boost that their presence confers, whether you know it or not.

So what is the relationship between isolation behaviors and testosterone?

Hikikomori is a syndrome of extreme social withdrawal that was first described in Japan; although recluses are found all over the world throughout history (think of hermits or anchorites in the Middle Ages, for example). The term “hikikomori” refers to the condition and the individuals themselves, and estimates suggest that perhaps 500,000 young people are hikikomori in Japan today, and another 500,000 over the age of 40. The government estimates there may be as many as 1.5 million people who are too. “about” to become hikikomori.

Researchers have developed specific diagnostic criteria for the disease as the spread of the disease has grown. The criteria include:

1. spend most of the day and almost every day confined to the house,

2. marked and persistent avoidance of social situations and social relationships,

3. social withdrawal symptoms that cause significant functional impairment,

4. lasting more than six months,

5. no apparent physical or mental etiology to explain the symptoms of social withdrawal.

The causes of such a complex condition are likely to be multiple, but one thing that has now been established is that male hikikomori are likely to have low testosterone.

A study in the magazine Psychoneuroendocrinology as of 2020 showed that teenagers are more likely to withdraw from society the lower their testosterone.

Salivary samples were collected from 159 healthy early adolescent boys (mean age [standard deviation]: 11.5 [0.73]) selected from participants in the “Tokyo Adolescent Cohort Population Neuroscience Study” … Social withdrawal and confounders such as secondary sexual characteristics and their age in months , were assessed using self-administered questionnaires completed by lead parents. . The degree of social withdrawal was assessed with the Child Behavior Checklist… Salivary testosterone levels, and cortisol as a control, were measured by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry… A higher risk of ‘social abstinence was associated with less salivary. testosterone level after adjustment for age in months (odds ratio 0.55, 95% confidence interval 0.33–0.94), and the association remained significant after adjusting for index body mass, degree of anxiety/depression and pubertal stage.

If you know anything about testosterone and its role in governing mood and motivation, this will come as no surprise. Low testosterone is strongly associated with depression and anxiety in men, and is also associated with the lack of a “sense of agency”, the feeling that you are in control of your own life. It stands to reason, then, that the phenomenon of hikikomori among adolescent males may be driven, or even caused, by low testosterone. In fact, the same may be true for older inmates as well, as we know that testosterone can decline significantly as men age. The general figure given is a reduction of 1% year-on-year, every year from the age of 30.

If the hikikomori phenomenon is driven or caused by low testosterone, there is no doubt that the hikikomori lifestyle – running, doing little or no exercise, playing video games, eating junk food – will only make a testosterone problem worse. As is often the case, what we see is a vicious circle.

At the same time, however, there is good evidence that isolation can actually to increase testosterone levels. This comes from a study of male micewhich reveals that isolated young male mice have higher testosterone levels than young male mice kept in groups.

The researchers took four sets of male mice: mice that were isolated in a cage from birth; mice that were caged with five other mice from birth; and two groups of older mice that were isolated or pooled in the same manner as the young pooled. Periodically, the researchers measured hormone levels in the mice’s blood.

What they found, at two and six months of age, was that the mice living in isolation produced almost three times as much testosterone as mice in groups. Levels of DHEA, the steroid hormone precursor, were also significantly higher.

Why could that have been? It all boils down to one word: stress. Living together is stressful and stress lowers testosterone. The researchers observed increased adrenal activity in the grouped mice and measured higher blood levels of corticosterone, a stress hormone.

Of course, this second study is a mouse study, so we have to take the findings with a grain of salt that is not a necessary addition to the hikikomori study. Even so, I think we can still see clear implications for humans. There are benefits to the right kind of insulation. Social life, for mice and humans, can be stressful, and this can have harmful effects on our health when these conditions become chronic.

How different are most modern people really, from mice locked up to six to a small cage? The vast majority of the world’s population is now urban and lives in settlements of a size and complexity that would simply have been inconceivable even a few hundred years ago. Societies of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions or even billions are a new thing, arriving practically yesterday in our history. For the vast majority of our 200,000 year history, we A wise man they have lived in small bands of probably no more than 150 people, moving around the environment.

It should come as no surprise, then, that living in these aberrant conditions, modern man suffers as a result. There is a large amount of scientific evidence that corroborates this. Humans are now chronically stressed in ways that were not possible or even conceivable once upon a time, that doesn’t mean life wasn’t stressful in the stone age, just that being prey to a saber-toothed tiger or participating in a tribal war was stressful in different ways, more acute ways . Part of me wonders if the massive decline in testosterone and fertility we’ve seen in recent decades is, at least in part, the result of chronic stress in men’s daily lives.

If there’s an immediate lesson to be drawn from these two somewhat contradictory studies, it’s that striking a balance between the stresses of social life and the stresses of isolation is probably the best way to ensure optimal long-term health. The fundamental difference between good and bad isolation may be, more than anything else, the behaviors associated with it: rotting in bed, eating junk food, and playing video games won’t benefit your health, but strengthening your body and your mind in tranquility. of your own presence absolutely will.