Loneliness: The epidemic nobody is talking about

This holiday season, I’d like you to try something. Open up your list of friends, wherever you keep it nowadays. Go through each and ask ‘When did I last spend quality in-person time with him or her?’ After you have done this, ask yourself ‘Is my life more lonely than it used to be?’

You may be tempted to dismiss this as another one of those self-help tutorials. But what if I were to tell you that your lifespan and health depends on the answer to this question?  Did you know that loneliness may have the same public health outcomes as diabetes or smoking 15 cigarettes a day?

A coalition of expert opinion is building towards the acknowledgement of loneliness as a growing epidemic across societies.  But this is no ordinary epidemic. It’s not biological, it's socioeconomic and technological. The wealthy are not more protected, in fact they are more at risk. And although the elderly might be at the highest risk of being lonely, it’s the middle aged that are more likely to die from it.

Loneliness and health outcomes

A breakthrough study in 2015 established clear links between loneliness and public health outcomes. Researchers at Brigham-Young University, conducting a meta-analysis of 70 independent studies from across the world, concluded that loneliness was associated with an increased mortality risk of between 26% and 32%. 

Crucially, these findings showed that there was not a lot of outcome difference based on the way loneliness was experienced, be it subjective, self-reported feelings of isolation or objective measures of loneliness (for example, living alone).  Surprisingly, the study also reported that ‘middle-aged adults were at greater risk of mortality when lonely or living alone than when older adults experienced those same circumstances’.  (It should be noted that confounding factors may influence that particular conclusion).

This is not just correlation, it’s causation. Multiple studies have established the pathways through which lack of social connection can result in poorer health outcomes. For example, better social connection has been shown to improve immunity levels, while isolation is associated with greater risk of dementia. Research aside, it’s fair to say that real connection with others is broadly considered a fundamental human need. 

The fulfillment of this human need has come under attack. Over the past 20 years, economic and technological forces have changed society more quickly than at any time in history.  Globalization has led to greater mobility, which has introduced a transience into our lives and friendships. Technology has redefined what connection means, and ‘friendship bitcoin’ has reduced the opportunity to trade in real currency with many preferring short, remote, transactional connection over deep, in-person companionship (see my other piece here).

Like many epidemiological forces, loneliness attacks different groups in different ways.

Loneliness and the young

While our young people have the best facilities and infrastructure to prevent isolation (through schools, clubs and other such organizations), this group is at great risk from the advent of technology. Today’s young are the first to grow up in the ‘connected generation’, with multiple modes of live interaction available to them. However, without the maturity to understand and balance the ways in which they interact with others, they are at risk of experiencing emotions and feelings that their parents or carers from older generations may struggle to identify and understand.  

Writing recently in The Atlantic, Jean Twenge of San Diego State University described the impact of technology on teenagers, and shares some of her research.  ‘At the generational level’, writes Twenge, ‘when teens spend more time on smartphones and less time on in-person social interactions, loneliness is more common.’ 

So is depression. Eighth-graders who spend more time on smartphones are 27% more likely to experience depression.  The chart above, which tracks feelings of loneliness in 8th-, 10th- and 12th-graders over time, makes an interesting (though certainly not conclusive) link with the launch of handheld devices.

Loneliness and the elderly

Those in their later years are at most risk of loneliness. Their children have grown up in a more mobile generation and have moved away, often far away, from their parents. Meanwhile, they have watched physical centers of connection and community gradually decline over the past decades. The population around them has become more transient, connection has become more technology-driven, and greater austerity has squeezed public spending on community enhancing measures.

The impact of all this is stark. A survey carried out by the Jo Cox commission concluded that three quarters of the UK elderly population are now lonely. Perhaps just as concerning is the fact that seven in ten respondents said that close friends and family would be surprised or astonished to hear that they felt lonely.

Front line medical professionals are now experiencing this, and many are unprepared. A study by the Campaign to End Loneliness in the UK found that three out of four doctors reported seeing between one and five lonely people per day. One in ten reported seeing between six and ten people who came in primarily because they were lonely.    Only 13% believed that they were equipped to deal with these patients.

Loneliness at work

Vice-admiral Vivek H. Murthy, the 19th Surgeon General of the US, had a lot to say about loneliness at work in a recent HBR article. “People sit in an office full of coworkers, even in open-plan workspaces,” he writes, “but everyone is staring at a computer or attending task-oriented meetings where opportunities to connect on a human level are scarce.”

Modern work, enabled by technology, is fast-paced and demanding. The lines between work and non-work are becoming increasingly blurred, leading to fewer deep friendships outside of the workplace. This is particularly likely to affect those in professional, corporate jobs – a sign that higher socioeconomic groups are particularly susceptible. Indeed, HBRs Snapshot Survey revealed that half of CEOs are experiencing feelings of loneliness in their roles.

Lacking an external outlet to discuss feelings and emotions, loneliness will greatly magnify stress and unhappiness in the workplace, ultimately leading to depression and other mental health issues. Organizations turning to People Analytics to explain negative outcomes such as attrition would do well to measure external factors such as loneliness in their calculations.  A study by Relate, the UK based relationship charity, reported that most workers have much more contact with their boss and colleagues than their own friends or close family.

We need an antidote to loneliness

Whatever way you look at it, whether it's health outcomes or productivity, increasing loneliness is a massive concern that needs more attention. It’s also a taboo subject. We need to talk about it more. Governments and public health bodies need to do more to understand the true prevalence of this condition and develop strategies to combat it. 

Employers need to better acknowledge that not all problems can be explained inside their own walls. If the pressures of work are negatively impacting the social connections of employees, they have a duty of care to address this by better understanding how this occurs and taking measures that are more profound than in-house connectivity events.

Finally, we all have our part to play in combating this epidemic. If you live in the UK, did you know that chronic loneliness is thought to affect at least 1.2 million people? That means you most likely know someone who is suffering from this condition.  Unlike every other epidemic we've faced, isolation makes it worse. Medication won't help. Lonely people need meaningful and enduring connection.

This holiday season, think about how you can give them what they need.  

I lead McKinsey's internal People Analytics and Measurement function. Originally I was a Pure Mathematician, then I became a Psychometrician. I am passionate about applying the rigor of both those disciplines to complex people questions. I'm also a coding geek and a massive fan of Japanese RPGs.

All opinions expressed are my own and not to be associated with my employer or any other organization I am associated with.