Loneliness may be deadlier than obesity—and other shocking facts

On the surface, loneliness might not seem like much cause for concern. After all, you can’t see it the way you can a broken leg or an open wound. But loneliness is linked to serious physical and emotional effects—and it’s become a threat to public health. More than one third of older adults are lonely and 76 percent of lonely individuals say they have zero support people in their lives, according to the AARP.

Older adults aren't the only ones at risk. A 2018 Cigna-conducted study of 20,000 US adults ages 18 or older found that 47 percent of Americans feel lonely or left out some or most of the time. A year later, an online YouGov poll of 1,254 adults found that 30 percent of millennial respondents often or always felt lonely—and 22 percent reported having no friends at all.

Loneliness isn’t the same thing as being alone. Rather, it’s a feeling of loss or sadness due to a lack of meaningful social connections. If you feel lonely, don’t shrug it off or think you just have to accept it. Here’s what you need to know about the loneliness epidemic, plus strategies for finding and building strong relationships.