How Winning The Lottery Can Lead To Poor Health

And what we can learn from this

Imagine winning the lottery, let’s say $10 million.

Your life has been completely upgraded. You can now buy your dream house and take expensive holidays around the world. What a life.

Of course, you know money won’t buy you happiness. But it’s doing you no harm right?

The other day I came across a fascinating story from Dr. Vivek H. Murthy’s book Together, which has interesting implications about the connection between wealth, health, and loneliness.

Winning the Lottery

One day, James, a patient of Murthy’s with high blood pressure and diabetes made a passing comment:

“Winning the lottery had ruined his life.”

James had once been a baker. He had lots of customers, a team, and a community with which he had strong connections.

One day he won the lottery, became rich, gave up his kitchen work, and moved to an affluent neighborhood.

However, despite this new wealth and comfort, James didn’t have his community anymore. He was instead surrounded by rich neighbors who lived private lives. He didn’t have all those human connections he used to, and soon became withdrawn, gained weight, and became diabetic.

Dr. Murthy tried to help him address his physical problems but recognized James’s issues were largely rooted in loneliness.

So what do I take from this story? I’m not here to say that living a wealthy life is bad. I believe we should all be wealthy. But I find an interesting link here between the life of a rich person and their human connections.

Wealth can Disconnect you from the World

I’ve often wondered how the 1% of the world can live like kings and not seem to care about the billions who can barely survive. How can you have more money than you could ever use and not be empathetic to those in need?

Looking at James’s example, I see a connection between exposure and empathy. I’m convinced that if a billionaire lived in a mansion inside a poor neighborhood, they’d do something to help their less fortunate neighbors.

I don’t think rich people are cold-hearted and selfish. They just tend to live in fancy neighborhoods, surrounded by other wealthy people, that are disconnected from the rest of society. Live in such an environment long enough and it’s difficult to be connected to the rest of humanity.

Many billionaires donate large amounts to charity and even start their own foundations to give back. But to have real urgency and desire to give back to society, don’t you need to feel connected to it? Why else would you actually care? Unfortunately, the farther up you go, the greater the distance between you and the ‘common man’.

It’s Lonely at the Top

The media’s portrayal of a wealthy lifestyle implies a life of constant work and little time for building strong and meaningful connections with others.

I’m not just talking about the typical image of a busy parent who has no time for their children. But also the insecurity and small pool of friendship that comes with wealth.

Many celebrities say they struggle to find a partner outside their industry because they are not sure whether a person truly loves them, or wants to ride off their fame. And likewise, wealthy business people seem to find it difficult to create anything beyond a working relationship with those in their company.

There’s no sense of community. No comradery. Little trust. And few deep, meaningful connections.

The Implications

Loneliness is a growing issue that needs to be taken seriously. Research is revealing stronger connections between loneliness, poor health, and even early death.

According to an analysis by Julianne Holt-Lunstad, Ph.D, of over 140 studies, people with strong relationships are 50% less likely to die early. Weak social connection has almost the same impact on your body as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, making it a larger risk factor for early death than obesity.

This research highlights our intrinsic need for deep, meaningful connections. Our health is related to our mental wellbeing, and we humans need to feel connected and part of a community.

Loneliness doesn’t equate to being alone. You can be surrounded by others, but feel empty inside. Feeling loved and cared for are necessary to our mental health and having a sense of belonging connects us to our humanity.

The wealthy are not exempt from loneliness. And despite their greater ability to influence their communities, they may often be the loneliest among us.

Having lots of money is great. But anything that disconnects you from your tribe is harmful. No matter how high we go in life, we need each other.

A personal chef can’t ensure your health if you’re lonely.

The best doctor in the world can’t give you a sense of belonging.

And no number of fans and followers can fill an empty void inside you.

Only the honest, loving, deep connections you make with your fellow man can give you the health and purpose you truly need.