Is There A Loneliness Epidemic? What Loneliness Does to Us and What Can Do About It

Note: This blog post is not a replacement for therapy or other interventions. The information I share here is based on research papers, articles, chapters, and my experience as a therapist. However, what I write here may not address your specific questions or address your specific concerns; this is general information. Please reach out to someone for assistance if you believe you need it. We deserve all the help and resources that we need!

 

 “Why do people have to be this lonely? What's the point of it all? Millions of people in this world, all of them yearning, looking to others to satisfy them, yet isolating themselves. Why? Was the earth put here just to nourish human loneliness?”

― Haruki Murakami, Sputnik Sweetheart

 Loneliness is something that can exacerbate sadness, make life feel dreary, and the quiet feel like stretches of never-ending longing. But these are not just musings of worried family "tsk tsking" about youngsters these days staying in their rooms all day. Psychologically, long-term loneliness can indeed be debilitating, and loneliness is quietly becoming an epidemic. Most research papers on loneliness have focused on the older population, but with the changing times, it is essential to understand if different age groups experience loneliness and, if so, how it affects them. 

Loneliness can be a painful experience, and it is a universal one, too. Some papers have mentioned that 80% of the population below 18 and 40% of the population above 65 years of age report loneliness at some point in their life. Loneliness is caused not only by being alone, but more so when a person's need for meaningful connections or relationships is not met. It is a subjective feeling of social isolation and emotional disconnect; this implies that even people who have a social group may end up feeling lonely.

Is there a loneliness epidemic? Should we be worried?

Over the last few years, especially since the global pandemic, there has been a worrying increase in people feeling lonely.

A paper in 2025 highlighted how 61% of the 407 undergraduate students who participated mentioned feeling moderately lonely, and 23.9% of them felt severely lonely. Another paper, in 2024,  included elderly people of India and found that 40% of them felt lonely and 24% felt severely lonely. This goes to show that people in every age group can feel this way.

Yes, the number of participants in these research papers is less, but different workplaces also conduct similar surveys, and it seems more often than not, people feel at least moderately lonely.

 The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified that social isolation and loneliness are universal, with around 16% of people around the world, or one in six people, experiencing loneliness. While it doesn't look too worrying, a large number of people would come under those 16%. So much so that loneliness and social isolation are being flagged as a public health problem of priority as per the WHO Commission on Social Connection.

What causes Social Disconnection and Loneliness?

1. Migration: Many people leave their homes and core support systems to study or work in urban areas, different cities, or other countries.
2. Poor Work-Life Balance: Many people work long hours, where their focus is mostly on completing deadlines and attending meetings. This leaves little time and energy to socialize and form social connections, or at times even maintain meaningful relationships.
3. Overreliance on Social Media: Some people may over-reliance on social media to connect with people, and while it may seem fruitful in the beginning, many of these platforms might not give people the chance to form deep connections and stay stuck in superficial conversations. At times, many people may form unrealistic standards if they have negative experiences because of the "Online Disinhibition Effect." This theory was proposed by John Suler, who noticed that people online can hide behind anonymity to be mean, which can lead to many negative experiences; people also find it more difficult to form in-person friendships/relationships. Social Media isn't inherently bad and, in many instances, can allow people to meet new people, but with AI, many may start relying on these faux-friendships -so care and caution are important.
4. Mental Health concerns: People who go through depression and/or social anxiety can isolate themselves and avoid socializing, but this can become a vicious cycle and make their mental health crisis worse. Shame and stigma connected with different mental health diagnoses may also make people either avoid socializing or, in other cases, they may hesitate to open up, leaving them with only superficial relationships.
5. Poverty and Socio-economic Conditions: According to the WHO, people from poorer countries are more likely to experience loneliness. Poverty may prevent people from accessing ways to socialize more (they may find it difficult to visit places, spend time with people, especially if their peers are from a different socio-economic background). They may withdraw due to shame or because of prioritizing work (and not always out of choice, either). Poverty may affect their access to healthcare or nutrition, which may cause health concerns that isolate them (this includes chronic stress).

How It Affects Them?

Social disconnection and loneliness may exacerbate depression and anxiety, harm our immune systems, endocrine systems, and also cardiovascular (heart-related) health. In some studies, researchers have found a relationship between support systems and improved health and longevity. According to the "reactivity hypothesis of diseases," Social support could act as a "cushion" between stressors (things that cause stress) and the psychological and physiological (mind-body) reactions to them; thus, reducing the effects of our reactions to stressful events. This, in turn, could help manage cardiovascular health and overall mental and physical health.

Prolonged loneliness can also increase the risk of dementia by 31% and can be linked to diabetes, self-harm tendencies, and early death.

What would help people?

Loneliness is being considered as a public health issue, and only the World Health Organization calling attention to this wouldn't be enough to take it head-on. Any measures that are introduced have to address the importance of social connections at a personal, social, professional, and systemic level.

1) Advocacy and Awareness: One of the most important things to start with is creating awareness of the consequences of social isolation and feelings of loneliness. The more aware we are of our health, both mental and physical, the more push there would be to make changes. While there is no guarantee of systemic changes, at least people would have the choice to start making small changes in their lives. Some countries like America, Denmark, Finland, Japan, among many others, have introduced policies for social connection - this goes to show that awareness would push for changes that are long-term.

2) Community Measures: India is a collectivist society, and despite people feeling overwhelmed by social expectations or social pressure to live life a certain way, this social structure has some benefits too. Making community-based practices through public places like parks or even schools/colleges or during festivals- for people to come together to connect with each other- can be beneficial. There are NGO's where older adults can meet each other for companionship and even marriage. This helps people find someone they can relate to, especially when no other support system is around. Other organizations have also set up meet-ups where people can connect with others. 

3) Workplace Measures: Workplaces, too, can introduce measures that encourage work-life balance, mutual understanding, and respect (many Indian employees talk about workplace hierarchies and work culture that feels isolating and overwhelming). Workplaces that leave people without time to live their lives may start a domino effect, which could ultimately leave people feeling burnt out, with poor health, and feeling socially isolated.

4) Personal Habits- This may not seem like a direct step towards alleviating feelings of loneliness, but taking small steps to learn hobbies where people can also socialize, practicing setting time aside (even if once a week or less) for doing activities that will help connect with others (online/offline book clubs, etc.) whenever possible can be helpful.

5)Therapy- Therapy or other skills training may help make small personal changes, like learning social skills and/or assertiveness skills, which can help someone reach out to people with more confidence. Cognitive Behavior Therapy can help people target negative and irrational thoughts that can also help improve self-esteem and change unhealthy belief systems. Many people with depression or anxiety may hesitate and not give themselves a chance to reach out to people, so therapy in such scenarios can be helpful when done with a compatible therapist.

Loneliness and social isolation can feel all-consuming and leave people feeling helpless and unsupported. With the changing tides of the world, people, too, are moving towards individualism, but in doing so, many are losing touch with their community, their peers, and their support system. Not only that, increasing competition can leave even adolescents feeling isolated as they are encouraged to focus on their studies and career. This, at times, stops them from honing their social skills, and that can affect them in adulthood too. We have to look into loneliness as a health crisis that affects a person's overall quality of life and make changes before it is too late.