Dr. Leonard Syme: A Summary

Social Connection and Healthiness

Dr. Leonard Syme, an expert in medical and public health area, is anxious about the increasing number of Americans who live alone, because he believes that loneliness damages people’s health. He supports his theory by using various scientific studies, and concluded that those who live alone and lack social networks have a much higher mortality rate than those who are well connected. He also compared the heart disease rates among Japanese immigrants. It turned out that those who adopt American life style, which advocates individualism, have 5 times higher rate of suffering from heart disease than those who keep living the traditional Japanese way, which favorably values family bonds. Syme concluded that
Shimerda’s story could be a possible explanation of the Japanese immigrant’s study Syme mentioned in his article. He found that Japanese immigrants who spend most time in the Japanese communities, who grow up with Japanese friends, who learn English as well as Japanese, who return to Japan for more schooling, and who still keep close connections to Japanese community when they grow up, have very low rates of heart disease. In contrast, Japanese immigrants who become Westernized have coronary heart disease rates five times higher. This result already excluded possible risk factors like diet, smoking and blood pressure, so the major difference between the two groups lies in their Japanese-based social networks. One possible explanation is that the Westernized Japanese believe in individualism and choose to live alone. But a more reasonable explanation is that they are isolated and alienated. The Japanese culture has rooted deeply in the immigrants’ minds. Even if they try really hard to be Westernized, they cannot remove the Japanese influences from their bodies. Therefore, it is impossible for Japanese immigrants to be completely involved in American society. In other words, most of them are “forced” to be lonely. In my opinion, this could also be a reason that we can see Japan Town or China Town all over America. Immigrants naturally feel safe and comfortable living with people who share the same value with
It is not because my American friends are mean; it is because of the weird feeling of alienation. Growing up in Chinese culture, I share similar values with Chinese, thus have more topics to talk about with them. Once I was in a discussion class, and the TA wanted us to play icebreaker games at the beginning of every class. However, I found most of the games unfamiliar to me. Of course I feel unacquainted with these games, because I grew up in China with my Chinese childhood friends and never played those games before. I hated those games, and sometimes I even intentionally showed up late to avoid the icebreaker part. I even could not be involved in a game, so how can immigrants become involved in a strange culture? Therefore, immigrants usually suffer from depression resulting from