You need a social life just as you need diet and exercise when you are aging. Sometimes, when a spouse dies or a senior falls into ill health, friends and family withdraw simply because the person doesn’t fit in anymore with their lifestyles. This usually makes seniors more withdrawn from society, and lead to depression, which in turn can be a cause for diseases like heart problems, alcoholism, and cancer.

It is a fact that seniors who socialize well have longer lives. Keeping an active social life is good for your self-esteem, feeling of importance, and stress reduction. It can also lessen your chance of getting dementia and Alzheimer’s.

Seniors will do better if they take their social life into their own hands rather than waiting for others to start it for them. If your spouse just passed away, you have the choice between moping around or becoming active in various organizations. The effort involved in going to church, joining clubs, or catching up with old friends is so little when compared to the good it will do for you.

Seniors will greatly enjoy being with people with common interests. The best way to keep a positive outlook is to laugh, share old memories, make new ones, and simply enjoy life. Joining an activity that’s new or something challenging, such as dancing classes, are especially helpful for seniors.

Seniors will have as much benefit when they exercise and when they socialize, as shown in a recent study from Harvard University. Jobs help keep seniors busy and active. Seniors really benefit from feeling needed.

We all need human contact to survive. Since we were young up to now, we need others to get on with our lives.

It makes perfect sense that a social life gets more important as we grow older. Stimulation is very much needed in our lives.

Remember the movie, Cast Away, when actor, Tom Hanks played a man alone on a desert island. In his desperation for company, he takes a ball and draws a face on it. The ball got lost in the end, and he mourned as if for a family member or a friend. Deprived of socializing, we may also feel isolated and alone.