Loneliness epidemic

Global increase in social isolation

The loneliness epidemic is an ongoing trend of loneliness and social isolation experienced by people across the globe.[1][2] The uptick may have begun in the 2010s and was exacerbated by the isolating effects of social distancing, stay-at-home orders, and deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic.[1][3]

Since the 2010s, large-scale initiatives have been launched in countries including the USA, Australia and UK.[4] In May 2023, the U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy published a United States Department of Health and Human Services advisory on the impact of the epidemic of loneliness and isolation in the United States.[3] The report likened the dangers of loneliness to other public health threats such as smoking and obesity.[5][6] Attention was later drawn to metrics indicative of loneliness being especially common among Americans who lack a college degree.[7] In November 2023, the World Health Organization declared loneliness a "global public health concern" and launched an international commission to study the problem.[8][9]

## References

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1. ^ a b Barth, Lila (April 20, 2022). "How Loneliness Is Damaging Our Health". The New York Times. Retrieved February 16, 2024. "Even before the pandemic, there was an 'epidemic of loneliness,' and it was affecting physical health and life expectancy."
2. ^ Rodriguez, Adrianna (December 24, 2023). "Americans are lonely and it's killing them. How the US can combat this new epidemic". USA Today. Retrieved February 16, 2024. "America has a new epidemic. It can't be treated using traditional therapies even though it has debilitating and even deadly consequences. The problem seeping in at the corners of our communities is loneliness"
3. ^ a b Nirappil, Fenit (May 2, 2023). "Loneliness poses profound public health threat, surgeon general says". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 16, 2024. "Loneliness presents a profound public health threat akin to smoking and obesity, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy warned in an advisory issued Tuesday that aims to rally Americans to spend more time with each other in an increasingly divided and digital society."
4. ^ Surkalim DL, Luo M, Eres R, Gebel K, van Buskirk J, Bauman A, et al. (2022). "The prevalence of loneliness across 113 countries: systematic review and meta-analysis". The BMJ. 376: e067068. doi:10.1136/bmj-2021-067068. PMC 8826180. PMID 35140066. "Worldwide, initiatives have been launched to address "the epidemic of loneliness.""
5. ^ "Social Isolation and Loneliness". www.who.int. Retrieved March 18, 2024.
6. ^ "Loneliness an epidemic?". The Times of India. March 1, 2024. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved March 18, 2024.
7. ^ David French (September 1, 2024). "The Loneliness Epidemic Has a Cure". The New York Times. Retrieved September 4, 2024. "Between 1990 and 2024, the percentage of college graduates who reported having zero close friends rose to 10 percent from 2 percent, which is upsetting enough. Among high school graduates, the percentage rose to a heartbreaking 24 percent from 3 percent.."
8. ^ Johnson, Sarah (November 16, 2023). "WHO declares loneliness a 'global public health concern'". The Guardian. Retrieved February 16, 2024. "The World Health Organization has launched an international commission on loneliness, which can be as bad for people's health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day"
9. ^ Perappadan, Bindu Shajan (November 16, 2023). "WHO declares loneliness as a pressing global health threat". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved March 18, 2024.

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