Lonzell Winn

Professor Johnson

ENG 1201

15 July 2020

Figure 1: Loneliness Epidemic (“Loneliness Epidemic”)

The Dangers of Loneliness

I spent the majority of my teenage years, from 11 to 18, in a state of isolation in my room

trying to avoid the rest of the world. I always had difficulty making friends throughout my life

as I was naturally very shy, even saying hello to a stranger was a struggle for me at times. That
grew worse after my grandma passed away in July of 2011 as I entered a major depressive period

and eventually decided to be alone as much as possible, I didn’t want to deal with interacting

with other people after losing her. For the next few years, aside from school and family

gatherings and when I was forced to go out, I spent my most of my time just sitting in my room

watching TV or reading or drawing until I had to sleep. Throughout the years I just kept telling

myself how I was spending my time was fine, there was nothing was wrong with me being alone

for most of the day, even though my mother expressed major concerns about my life style and

told me I was wasting some of the best years of my life. I felt safe and secure I my loneliness.

However, that changed completely in my senior year of high school when in the very first

week a complete stranger sat next to me at lunch, got to know me over a few days, and shattered

my delusions by becoming the first of many friends I have now. Now I always look for an

opportunity to get out of the house and go spend time having fun with other people, instead of

just spending my entire day sitting up in my room and trying to avoiding everyone. And as my

time with my friends went on, I began to look back on my time being alone and finally

recognized all of the health issues that resulted from it, both physical and mental. I am still

recovering from them to this day and in my time repairing my mind and body I came to a

conclusion, I realized that loneliness and isolation have terrible effects on humans such as

depression and physical health problems that can even lead to an early death if not stopped.

Loneliness and Humanity

Being alone is a state of being that even goes against humanity’s very nature as a social

species as Professor of Psychology Frank T. McAndrew states in his article on isolation

“Humans are hardwired to interact with others, especially during times of stress” (McAndrews

1). Humans are a social species that needs to interact with others. Despite that more than ever
before humans are becoming isolated from each other and the repercussions are showing

everywhere. Millions of people across the planet are suffering from being in a constant state of

loneliness and it has reached the point that is becoming a major health crisis that needs to be

addressed. In fact, many of the major health problems causing concerns today can be traced from

modern humans being in a state of isolation constantly and not truly interacting with others.

Before any of those issues can be truly dealt with it needs to be understood how isolation and

loneliness can lead to them has, otherwise it will only grow worse and take more lives. To do so

would requiring understanding the causes and effects of constant isolation and loneliness.

The Effects of Loneliness on Humans

It’s basic knowledge in this day and age that loneliness and being alone are a negative

experience in a person’s life, after all there are thousands of songs, books, and movies written

about a person being stuck in a miserable state after being alone for a long time. And while there

are some people, such as introverts and misanthropes, that do genuinely enjoy being alone even

they still require some sort of social interaction with others from time to time in order to stay

well. However, despite the idea shared among the general populace that being alone for a long

time just makes you sad recent research has the effects are far worse than that as Professor Liana

Bruce states “and has been found in numerous studies to correspond with worse mental health

outcomes, including depression, dementia, and sui-cide,2-4and with chronic physical health

conditions, such as hypertension, heart disease, and diabetes.” (Bruce 1123). It is not just a

feeling that can be easily be fixed with a quick visit or time with fiends, it is a major health

hazard that can radically affect a person’s health.

One major effect of loneliness is depression which is defined as “a mood or emotional

state that is marked by feelings of low self-worth or guilt and a reduced ability to enjoy life”.
(Britannica). Depression is a mental condition that millions of people across the planet are

suffering from and is being acknowledged as an epidemic in some parts of the world. Depression

can make even the most thrilling experience for the average person boring and tiring. Living

itself becomes a toll for those suffering from it and the taking of it is seen as the only option that

will bring any peace or happiness. Combating depression is a struggle that many face and

understanding that loneliness is a major cause is big step.

Another major effect of loneliness is many physical health problems. Many would say

these problems are just caused by people trying to escape the feeling by engaging in unhealthy

behaviors and while that is somewhat true, loneliness in itself can physically harm someone

without that person having to engage smoking, using drugs, drinking, or any other unhealthy

activity beforehand. Professor Steven Cole of the University of California even states than

loneliness can cause the human body to become a breeding ground for diseases and ailments if

not stopped “Loneliness acts as a fertilizer for other diseases,” Dr. Cole said. “The biology of

loneliness can accelerate the buildup of plaque in arteries, help cancer cells grow and spread, and

promote inflammation in the brain leading to Alzheimer’s disease. Loneliness promotes several

different types of wear and tear on the body.” (Social Isolation). The physical effects are just as

dangerous as the mental ones.

The Rise of Loneliness Across the World

Despite all of that, it is still a common belief among the general population that loneliness

is just common among a few people who are bad at socializing and interacting with others, John

Cacioppo discusses this idea in his TED Talk about how loneliness was perceived a decade ago

“It was even equated with shyness and depression, with being a loner, a person with marginal

social skills” (Talks). It was seen as something abnormal and obvious to spot, a person could
easily be identified as being lonely if they just spend a lot of time alone. Despite that idea studies

are showing that chronic loneliness has become incredibly common over the last decades and is

steadily increasing to the point that it has become considered a health crisis which Cacioppo

mentions as well “In the 1980s, scholars estimated that about 20% of Americans felt lonelier

than at any given point in time. Two recent nationally representative surveys indicate that this

number has doubled” (Talks). This chart made created by Cigna shows just how much the

loneliness epidemic is affecting Americans.

Figure 2 Loneliness At Work (“Loneliness At Work”)

Many world governments are even trying to reduce this perceived spread of loneliness

and its effects among the population. The British government is going so far as to use it’s

resources and power to alleviate people’s feeling of loneliness as stated by Professor Brian

Nyatanga “in response to increasing loneliness in the UK, the Government under Theresa

May developed a loneliness strategy to help every eligible person in the UK to access support

and resources to ameliorate their situation” (Nyatanga 200). The fact that a major world

government has to take steps to try and curb the spread of loneliness among the population
shows how much of a threat it has become to public health. It is made more difficult to fight

because unlike the many health conditions it can cause, such as heart problems, obesity, and

cancer, it is hard to among people, especially since the average citizen would rather deny being

lonely at all than just admit it. They see themselves as just living the same way an any average

person in the modern day does because it has become the normality in this time period. But it is

causing an epidemic that many across the world are starting to see.

Even more totalitarian countries such as China has taken notice of the effects of

loneliness and have starting taking steps to address it and stop its growth. According to Professor

Xiaohua Zhang the phenomenon has even been given a name by the populace and has become

common among college students “With the development of science and technology, especially

the popularity of the Internet, mobile phone, and computer, college students' lifestyle is

changing, which leads to the "Zhai" phenomenon. More and more students house in the dorm or

home. They reduce the communication with the outside world. This phenomenon not only

reduces the survivability of the students, but also causes no small impact to their physical and

mental health.” (Zhang). The fact that such an oppressive nation as China is beginning to take

steps toward lowering the reported amounts of loneliness among the population just shows how

much of a serious threat it really is.

It is a crisis that is effecting is millions and needs to be addressed further in public

discussion. It is an issue as, if not more, important as other of the others such as cancer and heart

disease and obesity as it is the very cause of many of those issues in the first place. Actions are

finally being taken in some countries to help slow down the tide before it grows to immense, but

in order to get the job completely done it will need to support of every nation on the planet as it
is an issue that affects humanity as a species not just one specific place in the world, but many

are still denying the lethality that loneliness has.

However, the recent COVID-19 epidemic has shown just how devastating loneliness and

can be to humans. With millions of people across the planet being stuck at home and without

social contact for months the negative effects are no longer possible to ignore. All of the

mentioned effects have steadily increased as the quarantine continues and will most likely grow

even worse. And according Professor Amy Novotney before it started the situation was already

bad “According to a 2018 national survey by Cigna, loneliness levels have reached an all-time

high, with nearly half of 20,000 U.S. adults reporting they sometimes or always feel alone.”

(Novotney). The idea that being lonely can be fixed easily is quickly being disproven by

accounts of people living alone in the epidemic. But in order to truly understand the rise of

loneliness over the last few decades it’s relationship with a certain change in humanity must be

understood, the advancement of technology.

The Relationship between Technology and Loneliness

A major cause of the increased reports of loneliness among the population is the

advancement of technology. Over the last two decades technology has advanced to the point

where most people no longer even need to physically interact with each other as any activity that

would have required it before, such as shopping or going to the bank, can easily be done right at

home on a computer or a smartphone. Professor Liana Bruce talks about how technology about

this change in social interaction caused by technology “In the last decade, technology has

changed how we interact with each other and with the world, raising questions about its impact

on both our social connectedness and overall well-being. Many previous face-to-face interactions

have become virtual as people can now work at home digitally; the proverbial "water cooler" is
not the social hub it once was.” (Liana). Convenient as it might be the after effects our showing

as the mental and physical wellbeing of millions has declined as a result.

However, many people, especially of the current generation, will deny the idea that

technology has caused people to become isolated from each other by bringing up their use social

media apps and websites. They would claim that it has allowed them to make hundreds of new

friends that they would have never been able to converse and interact without the development

and growth of social media websites. Some would even go as far as to say that these online

interactions are just as good if not better than actual interactions with people in real life “ But

research is showing that the interactions people do on social media are not the same as actual and

are even a large cause of the growth of loneliness. Not only that be social media can even lead to

users becoming addicted to spending time on the internet itself causing to becoming even more

lonely then before as they use the web as a replacement for actual interactions as mentioned by

Professor Liana “Evidence from a 2014 panel study by Yao and Zhong supported a vicious cycle

relationship between loneliness and excessive Internet use; the more lonely people are, the more

they use the Internet, which then leads to greater loneliness.[16] “ (Liana). Those interactions

will never be equivalent to the daily amount of actual physical interactions that a human being

requires to stay perfectly sane and healthy. This chart posted in the website Free- Range Kids

shows there is a clear relationship with technology and loneliness, as it can be seen that children

reported increases levels of loneliness after receiving an iPhone in 2007.

Figure 3 More Likely to Feel Lonely (“More Likely to Feel Lonely”)

Humans need interaction with each other just as much as they need food or water.

Despite that it still not seen as the important mental comfort it is and is unappreciated by many

because they should see it as a daily thing that is just a part of life. In his article Professor

Andrew even states that being rejected by another person cause physical pain “Rejection by

others psychologically wounds us more deeply than almost anything else, and research by

neuroscientists reveals that ostracism can lead to feeling actual physical pain.” (Andrew). That is

how much of an effect just interacting with others has, so the complete lack of should be seen as

a health risk in of itself.

Conclusion

Loneliness has terrible effects on humans than can lead to an early death. Thanks to

advances in technology and social media it has now become a crisis of monumental proportions

which effects millions across the world. More efforts need to be made to raise awareness of the
lethality and spread of it among the population if any changes are to made. And activities that

cause it need to be curtailed and replaced with healthier habits. Otherwise the deaths resulted

from it will rise higher and higher.

 Working Bibliography
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of Demographic, Structural, Cognitive, and Behavioral Characteristics.” American

Journal of Health Promotion, vol. 33, no. 8, Nov. 2019, pp. 1123–1133. EBSCOhost,

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“Loneliness At Work”. Edelman Intelligence. 1 May 2020,

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“Loneliness Epidemic”. The Independent, 30 March 2015,

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“More Likely to Feel Lonely”. Free-Range Kids, 6 August 2017,

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Novotney, Amy. “The Risks of Social Isolation.” Monitor on Psychology, American

Psychological Association, May 2019, www.apa.org/monitor/2019/05/ce-corner-

isolation. Accessed 28 June 2020

Nyatanga, Brian. “Social Prescribing: Combating Loneliness Is Everyone’s Business.” British

Journal of Community Nursing, vol. 25, no. 4, Apr. 2020, p. 200. EBSCOhost,

doi:10.12968/bjcn.2020.25.4. 200..
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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 23 Apr. 2019,

www.nia.nih.gov/news/social-isolation-loneliness-older-people-pose-health-risks.

Talks, T. "The Lethality of Loneliness: John Cacioppo at TEDxDesMoines". YouTube, 2013,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0hxl03JoA0. Accessed 28 June 2020.

Zhang, X. (2012, November 30). Investigation and Analysis of "Zhai" Lifestyle's Effects on

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https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1158775. Accessed 28 June 2020