The spring and summer months, which typically mean connecting with friends and family, tend to be the peak season of loneliness. But a new therapeutic may help ease those distressing feelings of disconnection. Researchers have found that oxytocin—the so-called “bonding hormone”—can improve people’s ability to form meaningful social connections and decrease acute loneliness.
Intranasal preparations of synthetic oxytocin are prescription medications widely studied for their effects on social behavior. The researchers found that participants dosed with the bonding hormone had an easier time connecting with others during the therapy sessions. “The psychological intervention was associated with a reduced perception of stress and an improvement in general loneliness in all treatment groups,” Ms.
Lieberz said. The participants who received it reported a reduction in acute feelings of loneliness compared to the placebo group, and this effect “was still visible at the follow-up examination after three months,” she noted. At the start of the study, the participants reported feelings of loneliness through self-assessments.
They were repeated after each weekly session and again at two follow-ups (three weeks and three months). The researchers noted that differentiating between “perceived” and “acute” loneliness can be challenging. Nonetheless, they are optimistic that oxytocin can be a supportive aid because it helps reduce loneliness.
According to Ms. Lieberz, .
