Loneliness Is A Serious Threat To Global Public Health, Says WHO

Have you ever felt lonely? If so, you’re not the only one. In recent years, feelings of loneliness have been on a steady incline. This has been exacerbated by lockdown and health protocols during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Now, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared that the rising rates of loneliness may be the next epidemic. 

Is Loneliness a Public Health Crisis?

Over the past few years, researchers have highlighted the rising rates of loneliness, with many people struggling with social isolation;

• A recent report from WHO found that 12.7% of African adolescents experience loneliness, compared to 5.3% of adolescents in Europe. 
• A 2022 study published in the BMJ found that between 5% and 15% of adolescents are lonely. 
• A 2022 report from the General Social Survey found that Americans who felt that they could reliably trust other Americans in 1972 dropped from around 45% to around 30% in 2016. 
• According to a 2022 study, the number of times people spent alone rose from 285 minutes per day or 142.5 hours per month in 2003 to 309 minutes per day or 154.5 hours per month by 2019.
• The study also noted a 30 to 10-hours-per-month drop in the average amount of time that people spend engaging in person with their friends, with this drop being especially marked in those 15 to 24 years of age.
• Per a 2021 study published in Socius, 27% of Americans admitted to having fewer than four friends in 1990, and this rose to 49% in 2021.

With more and more people grappling with loneliness across the world, one has to wonder what this bodes for public health.

How Does Loneliness Affect Longevity?

Loneliness is a serious threat to longevity, due to the various ways in which it can affect your health. 

For instance, a recent study published in BMC Medicine found that not socializing with loved ones can increase one’s risk of early death by 39%.

How does this happen?

While the study did have its own theories, separate research has indicated the various ways in which loneliness can impact health.

Earlier this year, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy revealed that loneliness can pose as much of a health risk as smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day, and even greater than those associated with obesity and physical inactivity. 

In the published report from the World Health Organisation (WHO), Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation,” the report spoke more on this comparison. 

The comparison rose from loneliness being associated with a 29% increased risk of heart disease, a 32% increased risk of stroke, and a 50% increase of dementia in older adults. Loneliness can also cause a significant increase in the risk of anxiety, depression, respiratory illness, and viral infections. 

Loneliness has also been found to affect more than your health, but also your prospects and economic outcomes as amongst younger people, loneliness has been found to increase their likelihood of dropping out of university.  Additionally, loneliness can cost employers an estimated $154 billion due to absenteeism attributed to loneliness.

World Health Organization To Combat Loneliness

“Given the profound health and societal consequences of loneliness and isolation, we have an obligation to make the same investments in rebuilding the social fabric of society that we have made in addressing other global health concerns, such as tobacco use, obesity, and the addiction crisis,” – U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, MD, MPH

To address the growing global health crisis that is loneliness, the WHO recently announced plans to launch a commission that would be “the first global initiative to tackle the epidemic of loneliness,” announced Tedros Adhanom, the group’s director general.

Per Ghebreyesus, the commission will be comprised of 11 “leading policymakers, thought leaders, and advocates,” led by co-chairs U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and Chido Mpemba, youth envoy at the African Union Commission. The commission will work to understand the health risks of social isolation and effective solutions. 

The commission will run for three years, with the first meeting to be held Dec. 6-8, with a report being released in about a year and a half.

How Can I Deal With Loneliness?

If you’re experiencing loneliness, try some of the following strategies to deal with it:

1. Join a club: Gym, gardening, book club, art class or any other club that focuses on one of your hobbies or on a skill that you’d like to learn is a great way to build a community. 
2. Volunteer: It’s the holiday season, so there are definitely a few causes that you can lend your time to.
3. Adopt a pet: Pets can improve your health in many ways, one of which is alleviating loneliness.
4. Strengthen existing relationships: Sometimes, we need to spend more time with people already in our lives. Invite them out for dinner or spend some quality time chatting.
5. Get outside: Getting some fresh air will improve your mood, and it may also introduce you to new people.
6. Reach out for help: Loneliness can perpetuate poor mental health, so if you start to notice this, it is advisable that you speak to a therapist about your feelings. 

References

Cohen S. (2021). Psychosocial Vulnerabilities to Upper Respiratory Infectious Illness: Implications for Susceptibility to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, 16(1), 161–174. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691620942516

Domènech-Abella, J., Mundó, J., Haro, J. M., & Rubio-Valera, M. (2019). Anxiety, depression, loneliness and social network in the elderly: Longitudinal associations from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA). Journal of affective disorders, 246, 82–88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2018.12.043

Foster, H.M.E., Gill, J.M.R., Mair, F.S. et al. (2023) Social connection and mortality in UK Biobank: a prospective cohort analysis. BMC Med 21, 384. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-023-03055-7

Kannan, V. D., & Veazie, P. J. (2022). US trends in social isolation, social engagement, and companionship ⎯ nationally and by age, sex, race/ethnicity, family income, and work hours, 2003-2020. SSM – population health, 21, 101331. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2022.101331

Kovacs, B., Caplan, N., Grob, S., & King, M. (2021). Social Networks and Loneliness During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Socius. https://doi.org/10.1177/2378023120985254

Lazzari, C., & Rabottini, M. (2022). COVID-19, loneliness, social isolation and risk of dementia in older people: a systematic review and meta-analysis of the relevant literature. International journal of psychiatry in clinical practice, 26(2), 196–207. https://doi.org/10.1080/13651501.2021.1959616

Maher, B. M., Hynes, H., Sweeney, C., Khashan, A. S., O’Rourke, M., Doran, K., Harris, A., & Flynn, S. O. (2013). Medical school attrition-beyond the statistics a ten year retrospective study. BMC medical education, 13, 13. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6920-13-13

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https://www.verywellmind.com/how-to-cope-with-loneliness-3144939

https://www.helpguide.org/articles/relationships-communication/i-feel-lonely.htm

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