How to Stop the Loneliness Epidemic
In a digital age, we are more connected than ever—and also more lonely than ever. Flexible working environments can mean solo work in our home offices. Urban planning often means a solo drive in our own car to many public spaces. Mental and physical health conditions—Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia, depression and others—can isolate us, even with others around.
Loneliness is defined by scientists as “a subjective internal state. It’s the distressing experience that results from perceived isolation or unmet need between an individual’s preferred and actual experience,” according to a 2023 report on loneliness from then-U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, MD, MBA.
The loneliness epidemic, which affects up to 50% of Americans, has everyone asking: What’s really going on in a lonely brain? And, what can we do about it as a society?
What’s Causing the Loneliness Epidemic?
To determine why people are lonely, it’s also necessary to look at the opposite—what works when someone is happy and connected. Dr. Murthy’s report shares essentials for social connection:
- Structure: including the number and variety of relationships, and how frequently you interact within them, such as household size and marital status
- Function: how relationships serve your needs, such as emotional support
- Quality: how positive or negative your relationships are, such as strain versus satisfaction
“Americans appear to be becoming less socially connected over time. This is not a new problem—certain declines have been occurring for decades,” Dr. Murthy’s report said. He pointed to “individual social participation, demographics, community involvement and use of technology over time” as key reasons, along with disintegrating trust in each other. In fact, trust in others declined from 45% in 1972 to 30% in 2016, according to the report.
Anna Finley, PhD, assistant professor and director of the Social Psychology and Affective Neuroscience in Health Laboratory at North Dakota State University published research in 2022 on the neuroscience of loneliness. She said loneliness isn’t limited to the aging population; loneliness also spikes at other times in life, such as during undergraduate years of college.
Regardless of when it hits, Murthy’s report showed that the effects of loneliness are more severe than obesity and physical inactivity. And, it is as damaging to the mind and body as smoking 15 cigarettes per day.
Beyond physical impacts, it’s also just a terrible feeling to be lonely. Researchers are diving into both the causes and solutions, looking deep into the brain’s processes to determine how society can get more connected.
What’s Going On in a Lonely Brain?
One of the first challenges researchers face in studying loneliness is defining it, Dr. Finley said. “Loneliness is subjective—it’s less about the total number of people you come in contact with and more feeling like you’re socially connected and have your social needs met, which seems to be impacting the brain.”
Once someone feels lonely, it becomes a stressor, and stressors cause inflammation, she said. “With a lot of dementias and with Alzheimer’s, it seems like some of the neurofibrillary tangles are causing or contributing to inflammation. With vascular dementias, that happens too if there is cardiovascular inflammation causing leaky vessels or increased risk of clot and stroke.”
Multiple brain structures are involved in the sensation of loneliness, a study in 2021 found, including the amount of gray matter and/or brain activity in the prefrontal cortex, insula, amygdala, hippocampus and the posterior superior temporal cortex.
The researchers also found loneliness was related to biological markers associated with Alzheimer’s, including amyloid and tau burden, suggesting loneliness is related to altered brain structures and function. Research shows a 14% increased risk of Alzheimer’s for lonely people, while other research suggests dementia risk triples with loneliness.
“People who are lonely have a higher burden of amyloid in the brain, even prior to developing cognitive problems,” said Ellen E. Lee, MD, associate professor at the University of California in San Diego and staff psychiatrist at the VA San Diego Healthcare System.
There also seems to be a complex relationship between loneliness and other risk factors for dementia. For instance, cognitive impairment makes it harder to follow conversations, which can be depressing. “There is a strong bidirectional relationship between depression and loneliness,” Dr. Lee said. A depressed person might not want to interact with others, but loneliness can also cause depression.
Loneliness is associated with higher rates of smoking, alcohol use, sedentary lifestyle and poor nutrition, she said. But, is that just a “downstream consequence” of being lonely and depressed? It’s a classic chicken-or-the-egg dilemma.
How Can We Help with the Loneliness Epidemic?
Finding Meaning in Volunteerism
Overcoming social isolation can be difficult for many reasons, especially for someone who is very sensitive to signs of rejection from other people. Dr. Lee said when someone is sensitive to social rejection, they really need to have a positive social interaction when they seek connections with others. If the interaction is negative, they may hesitate to try again. One potential way to connect successfully is to volunteer, a solution that psychologist Kimberly Van Orden, PhD, at the University of Rochester is studying. She calls it a “promising” strategy.
“You’re doing something to help others, and they’re likely going to appreciate it,” Dr. Lee said. Next time you head out to volunteer, grab a friend who might be lonely, and watch them potentially find some meaning in helping.
Designing Connected Communities
Dr. Finley said people are becoming more cognizant of the need for “third spaces,” referring to somewhere outside home or work to gather and converse. The University of Chicago’s analysis of third spaces calls them “challenging” to access, especially without a car.
“Many cities and towns have limited or no public transportation,” according to an article about the University of Chicago analysis. “In many American towns, third places like coffee shops, bars, libraries and parks are far away from residential areas. … These challenges, along with the COVID pandemic and the possibilities of online connection through social media, may make it tempting to stay home rather than go out for social interaction.”
People can support local movements such as the Walk to a Park initiative in New York City, and national recommendations such as Creating Connected Communities. Dr. Lee called on decision-makers to consider what’s really needed to change systems in the U.S.: “Could we change how we set up public spaces? Could we change how we design senior apartment buildings? How do you actually create community when all of the digital technology separates people from each other physically?”
Supporting Local, National and Global Movements
In a review of the efforts of 52 countries in 2024, researchers analyzed what countries are doing about loneliness. They called for national and global engagements that direct funds toward development and implementation of interventions that help with the loneliness epidemic.
A few years before the pandemic, in 2017, the U.K. and other countries were implementing loneliness ministers to focus specifically on the issue. In the U.S., Dr. Finley pointed to local programming filling gaps. For example, Folkways in Fargo, North Dakota, is interested in developing community, such as through a farmers market, but also through indoor spaces during harsh winters. The World Health Organization’s Commission on Social Connection offers a wealth of resources, too, such as videos of lived experiences around the world, informational articles, news, infographics with loneliness data, and action steps.
Educating and Uniting Health Care Professionals
In San Diego County, California, there is a group that unites aging service agencies and is run by the county’s Aging and Independent Services program, Dr. Lee said. This type of unity can help with problem-solving. “Part of it is just getting the awareness out for psychiatrists, caregivers, doctors, geriatricians and inpatient doctors to really focus on social functioning as important as mobility,” she said. This includes helping connect health care and emergency resources to aging populations.
Dr. Finley said isolated people might have less help taking medicine as they age, getting to doctor’s appointments or getting help in emergencies. Medical professionals can decrease isolation in emergencies by preparing people for how to access emergency help, such as recommending emergency alert devices, or ensuring they know how to call for help.
This is an area where individuals can help. Giving an elderly neighbor your phone number or checking in on them can be a tangible way to build a connection.
Experts say there’s no silver bullet to solve the loneliness crisis. What works for one lonely person might not work for another. However, through a combination of systemic solutions, further research and simply taking a few extra moments to have a face-to-face conversation with others, we can chip away at the loneliness epidemic.
