The Loneliness Pandemic
A neglected crisis among young adults in America — Part 1
Loneliness has quietly been posing a public health crisis long before COVID-19 reached American soil. With social distancing and quarantining becoming standard practice, we must pay renewed attention to the effects of loneliness and social isolation on Americans’ health.¹ Loneliness has been described as a “gnawing, chronic disease without redeeming features.”² Most of us have experienced loneliness at one time or another and can attest to the heart wrenching sadness, frustration, and pain that it brings. It turns out that it’s not in your imagination — in fact, the social pain of loneliness mirrors the visceral pain of post-traumatic shock³ and triggers brain regions associated with physical pain.⁴ ⁵ ⁶ ⁷
Research has shown that the adverse effects of loneliness on health outcomes compare to — or can even exceed the effects of — physical inactivity, smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day, excessive alcohol consumption, and air pollution.⁸ Loneliness has been associated with decreased cognitive functioning and higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease,⁹ ¹⁰ poorer sleep quality,¹¹ ¹² depression and anxiety,¹³ repetitive negative thinking,¹³ increased blood pressure,¹⁴ chronic inflammation,¹⁵ and premature mortality.¹⁶
In a national survey¹⁷ conducted by Harvard University in October 2020, participants reported significant increases in loneliness since the start of the pandemic with 36% reporting feeling lonely frequently, almost all the time, or all the time.¹⁸ Young adults ages 18–24, in particular, face disproportionately high rates of loneliness and perceived social isolation.¹⁷ ¹⁹ An alarming 61% of young adults reported experiencing serious loneliness, with 43% reporting increases in loneliness, since the start of the pandemic.¹⁷
A CDC report from summer 2020 paints a grim picture of young adults’ mental health during the pandemic, finding that young adults were at a disproportionately high risk of adverse mental health outcomes such as substance use disorders and suicidal ideation.¹⁷ ²⁰ Moreover, 63% of young adults, a higher proportion than any other age group, reported experiencing significant symptoms of anxiety or depression, according to the CDC.²⁰
Young adults perceive loneliness “as an insurmountable distance between themselves and others.”²¹ Situational risk factors that may lead to loneliness range from living alone,²² having few friends,²² and belonging to an ethnic minority status.²³ ²⁴ Behavioral factors include isolative behaviors (e.g. social withdrawal due to poor mental health),²¹ lack of participation in social groups,²² concealment of depression,²¹ and physical inactivity²⁵ among others. Finally, many psychological risk factors such as depression²¹ or suicidality,²⁶ former destructive experiences (e.g. bullying, mental or physical abuse, etc.),²³ ²⁷ fear of judgment,²¹ and attachment difficulties²⁸ can precede the development of loneliness.²
Any intervention for loneliness among young adults must account for contributing risk factors, especially mental illness, and address issues of access to mental health services. Not all young adults who have a mental illness feel lonely, and not all young adults who feel lonely have a mental illness — but both of these factors increase the risk of developing the other.²⁹ ³⁰ We must consider loneliness among young adults within the broader context in which it occurs and as both an antecedent and consequence of situational, behavioral, and psychological circumstances.
How can we create an infrastructure that supports young adults suffering from loneliness and prevents at-risk youth from becoming lonely in the first place? We will discuss this complex, but crucial endeavor in Part 2 of this series.
Atlas Research’s Health Equity Working Group is releasing a new series identifying and providing solutions to the complex challenges that underserved Americans face. We look forward to engaging with our readers and driving the conversation on topics such as mental health, Veterans’ health, homelessness, maternal health, economic disparities, racial justice, and more. Opinions expressed are that of the author, and do not necessarily reflect Atlas’ position.
