Loneliness is affecting more people than you may realize.
A new Gallup poll found that young adults — ages 19 to 29 — were the most likely age group to say they experience loneliness, with 27 percent expressing they feel “very or fairly lonely” and 30 percent sharing they feel “a little lonely.”
Earlier this year, Dr. Vivek Murthy, the U.S. surgeon general, found that loneliness is as deadly as smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day. He declared loneliness a public health epidemic, and one that needs to be addressed as quickly as possible.
“We now know that loneliness is a common feeling that many people experience,” Murthy said. “It’s like hunger or thirst. It’s a feeling the body sends us when something we need for survival is missing. Millions of people in America are struggling in the shadows, and that’s not right.”
