The Loneliness Epidemic
1 in 5 People Say They Feel Lonely or Socially Isolated
I live alone. I also work entirely from home. For this reason, I find it difficult to find reasons to leave my house. This has led to a sense of loneliness that can be hard for me to put into words. For nearly two years now, I’ve operated under a continuous feeling of social isolation.
In our current times, I think many of us are feeling a sense of social disconnect that we can’t shake. As much as many of us want to get out and socialize, to mingle with our fellow humans and be a part of the human experience, certain restrictions have made that difficult for the foreseeable future.
Still, many of us haven’t seen that much of a change in our day to day lives in the wake of this pandemic on a social level. Many of us found ourselves socially isolated even before the barriers were placed on social interaction. For many of us, loneliness is a temporary problem while, for some of us, loneliness is an epidemic in itself.
According to research from the Health Resources and Services Administration, 2 in 5 Americans report that they either sometimes or always feel that their social relationships are not meaningful while 1 in 5 say they feel lonely or socially isolated. Further, according to Brigham Young University professor Julianne…
