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Most people would kill for a work-from-home job, but it turns out it can have some grim effects on your mental health.<\/p>\n
A new study published in the journal Science<\/a> found that remote workers were more likely to report feeling anxious, depressed, and being socially isolated compared to people who worked in-office. No commute and having the comforts of home is undoubtedly an upside, but it seems there\u2019s no substitute for genuine social connections.<\/p>\n Nicholas Epley, a professor of behavioral science at the University of Chicago\u2019s Booth School of Business who wasn\u2019t involved in the study, told NPR<\/a> that workers might be underestimating the value of being to \u201creach out to connect with other people,\u201d and that \u201cpeople might be choosing poorly\u201d in terms of their well-being.<\/p>\n Until now, most studies have focused on remote work\u2019s impact on productivity and job satisfaction, according to an editor\u2019s summary, while there\u2019s been little insight into its relationship to loneliness and mental health. <\/p>\n To fill that gap, lead author Natalia Emanuel, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and her colleagues conducted an analysis that drew on data from five national surveys on American workers, comparing \u201cremotable jobs\u201d that can be done remotely, like software engineering, and \u201cnon-remotable\u201d jobs, like surgery.<\/p>\n It found that the hours that workers in remotable jobs spent working alone surged by 58 percent compared to workers in non-remotable jobs. That may not be surprising, since they\u2019re staying at home, but the level of isolation could be extreme, as there was also a 72 percent rise in their chance of spending an entire day with no human contact whatsoever.<\/p>\n It was even worse for remote workers who lived alone, with an 83 percent chance of spending a whole day with no human contact. \u201cLikewise, the increase in mental distress is almost twice as large for those living alone as for those living with their family,\u201d Epley told NPR.<\/p>\n