Cathleen Lambridis had a dream job in Paris. She worked as director of residence for the U.S. ambassador to France and lived in her own apartment inside the embassy.
“On the surface, my life in Paris was fabulous,” Lambridis told LifeZette. “I met kings and queens and royalty and ambassadors and presidents,” she said.
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But there was a problem: None of her three children lived in Paris, and she rarely got to see them.
“We found that all forms of socialization aren’t equal.”
“It was probably the only time in my life, or one of the only times I can think of, where I was living in a city without any of my children. And that was sad. You’d think it would be compensated for by this incredible life that I was living, but being with my children was more important to me than any of those things.”
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After several years of living apart from her three sons, Lambridis, now 69, had had enough. In 2011, she moved to Taos, New Mexico, to be near one of her sons and her grandson. She now sees family almost every day and is happier for it.
A new study published in the Journal of American Geriatrics shows older adults who have little face-to-face contact with friends and relatives have a higher risk depression as those who see family and friends regularly. Though loved ones can always email, make phone calls, send text messages, and write letters to stay in touch, the study found that did little to safeguard older adults from depression. Only in-person contact did the trick.
“We found that all forms of socialization aren’t equal,” said Dr. Alan Teo, the study’s lead author. “Phone calls and digital communication with friends and family members do not have the same power as face-to-face social interactions in helping to stave off depression.”
Lambridis learned firsthand — phone calls, emails, and sykping with her sons was great. But it just emphasized how far away she was from her loved ones.
“I wouldn’t move to a city again where one of my children didn’t live,” she told LifeZette.
“Research has long supported the idea that strong social bonds strengthen people’s mental health,” Teo said in a media release.
Teo and his co-authors, however, said this is the first study to examine how different modes of communication — phone, email, and in-person — affect older adults’ risk of depression.
The team of researchers analyzed data from more than 11,000 adults aged 50 and older who participated in the University of Michigan’s Health and Retirement Survey between 2004 and 2010. They examined how often participants interacted with friends and family, and how they interacted — in person, via email or written word, or by phone. Two years later
, these participants were assessed for symptoms of depression.
They found participants who saw family and friends the least (every few months or less) had the highest risk (11.5 percent chance) of reporting depressive symptoms in the assessment two years later. Those who saw friends and family the most (three or more times per week) had only a 6.5 percent chance of getting depression. Basically, the more often the visits, the less likely the person would become depressed.
“That makes sense,” Jackie Martin, a registered nurse and home caregiver to elderly New Yorkers, told LifeZette. “Depression, like a lot of mental illnesses, really thrives on isolation.”
She said visits from family and friends can help push a person to get up, move around, and engage in life. That helps alleviate or prevent depressive symptoms.
Depression is a big problem among older Americans. The Geriatric Mental Health Foundation estimates that between 15 and 20 percent of adults in this country aged 65 and older have been affected by depression.
“Research has long supported the idea that strong social bonds strengthen people’s mental health.”
Physical ailments, mobility issues, and loss of loved ones all contribute to these higher rates.
The medical care costs for depressed seniors is roughly 50 percent higher than for non-depressed seniors with the same physical ailments. Older adults also commit suicide at a higher rate than any other age demographic.
But what about phone calls, letters, emails? Teo and his team found the number of phone calls or emails received from loved ones had no impact on an older person’s risk of depression.
“That seems surprising to me — I would expect phone calls to have some effect,” Martin said. “Though this is anecdotal, I’ve definitely seen people get very happy about receiving calls. But I guess a visit is different. An actual visit would be a higher quality exchange.”
“The nonverbal aspect of face-to-face interactions may have an effect,” Dr. Jeremy Colley, a board certified psychiatrist in private practice in New York City, told LifeZette about why in-person contact has more impact.
Lambridis said regularly seeing her family is a key to her happiness.
“When you’re young, you don’t really need your family. In fact, you often don’t want your family around,” she said.
The message of the study is clear: It’s a good idea to visit your loved ones more often.
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