80-year Harvard study has been showing how to live a healthy and happy life

As a married religious person who was once single and not so religious, I can attest that faith and marriage have generally made me happier.

Given the choice again, I'd utilize both regardless of health benefits. I do wonder if that general happiness factor contributes to better health in indirect ways.

I should mention that I have already covered the basics, which is why I strongly believe this is a social problem. I have:

- Seen a doctor, gotten blood tests done, and verified all is "normal"

- Eaten very healthy, home cooked meals since I started WFH.

- Exercise 4-5 times a week. I am in "good" shape, and I am looking at registering to run my first marathon soon.

- Drink lots of water. Mostly avoid alcohol.

You sound depressed and you mention that social interaction might be the cause, but is it not possible that you are finding your work unfulfilling, that's causing depression and the rest follows?

I only say this because I've worked long stretches more or less alone with limited social interaction (didn't have a wife around) and didn't suffer any of those symptoms, but that's an anecdote for you. I did suffer those symptoms when depressed, though, and that didn't take solitude.

Some people are very happy with solitude and there's no hard rule that it affects everyone the same.

1. Sample bias: "Why just study WEIRD [1] subjects? Let's do male Harvard graduates!" (Yes, half the study included inner city men, and one eighth of the duration featured women. It's still super heavily biased towards Harvard men.)

2. Correlation is not causation: "Hmm, health is correlated with relationship satisfaction. Could there be a common cause for both? Or maybe people like to hang out with healthier peers? No, the clear conclusion is that working on your relationships magically makes you healthier."

3. Inconsistent data collection: "Those '30s nincompoops were measuring skulls and handwriting. We'll stop doing that and take MRIs instead. But it's still the same study!"

[1] https://schott.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/weird/

Yes, right now I struggle to find fulfillment in my work. But did that develop because of solitude which induced depression or did the lack of fulfillment develop naturally and cause the depression itself? It's difficult to say for sure, even as the person experiencing it.

I can only speak to what I know of myself and my situation. I was a developer for ~3 years before I started WFH, and never felt like this. The product I worked on then, wasn't any more interesting than the current one. It's true though that the first few years of work carried with them a novelty and enjoyment that was bound to fade. But I think my happiness then was more than just that. Even off days felt successful if I was interacting with the team.

> Some people are very happy with solitude and there's no hard rule that it affects everyone the same.

Definitely agree. We're all different, and some people surely do thrive in this kind of environment. Interestingly, I would have told you I was one of those people. I'm naturally an introvert so this lifestyle was very comfortable at the outset. Too much of a good thing though...