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Julissa Garcia, Cameron Strait, Leonardo Garcia Gaitan

Mrs. Paulakis

English 101

January 10th, 2023

Epidemic of Loneliness: The Power of Social Connectivity

Everyone has experienced loneliness at some point in their lives, even if they weren’t

alone. In fact, most of the U.S. experiences loneliness and don’t feel socially connected with

those around them. Every individual belongs to some social group, whether it be demographic,

or interest based, and everyone wants to belong in some form or another. Loneliness and

isolation are caused by infrequent social interactions and can lead to depression and anxiety,

which can affect financial and physical aspects of an individual’s life. Demographics, community

involvement, use of technology, and individual social participation trends have showed that

American social connection is declining. To combat this epidemic of loneliness, we must

establish a culture that promotes social connection by investing in community programs and

educational institutions.

Having a community to pertain to allows a sense of purpose and fulfillment, preventing

feelings of loneliness and isolation from occurring. Young adults are the loneliest individuals in

America, with 79% of them reporting feeling extremely lonely (Greenblatt). Though loneliness is

an issue that affects everyone, focusing on the youth is especially important as the experiences

they have now will affect them for the rest of their lives, and the generations after them. Many of

these young adults likely didn’t have a strong social foundation to follow them outside of their

youth, which is why they experience peak loneliness as young adults. A community is built on

the pillars of solidarity, trust, and social support, and if we want the youth to join such
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communities, we must extend these pillars to the place they spend the majority of their time:

school. Promoting social activities like tutoring, mentoring, and clubs associated with culture,

religion, or interests can encourage socialization and the formation of friendships. The

opportunities given to socialize and create relationships should extend outside of just school,

such as youth groups or support groups. Teaching over the importance of social connectivity in

schools and creating safe spaces for students should be the next step we take in order to

strengthen community in school and across their lives.

Social connection is necessary for all forms of human health, especially when a lack of

social connection is a leading factor in national suicide rates. Thankfully, social groups provide

an immediately effective solution, due to the large sum of choices that fit all interests and

preferences. The Life of Wellness Institute claimed, “Community involvement provides a sense

of belonging and social connectedness. It can also offer extra meaning and purpose to everyday

life.” Joining social groups allows individuals to form relationships with others who share the

same interests and preferences which are highly beneficial for mental health. The Surgeon

General’s advisory also mentions that “youth mentoring programs found a positive association

between mentoring programs intended to promote positive youth outcomes and improved school

attendance, grades, and academic achievement test scores.” These youth mentoring programs

supply individuals with support which can enhance a student's mental well-being and give them

motivation to succeed.

However, viewing community as a one for all bandage on loneliness is an optimistic

viewpoint, as equitable social opportunities do not exist for everyone, and many do not accept

everyone. For example, looking at the rate of loneliness from high school to college jump up

from a 33% (Piore) in high school student to a 44% (Zahedi et al.) in college/university, we see
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that education can also be a factor of excess stress from the pressures of rigorous courses, having

to navigate new friendships, and trying to fit into groups all the while in a different location far

from home (for most). This finding is seen more so in first year students but is still applicable to

further levels of education (Zahedi et al.). College is known to have a stigma as being the first

year that teens are able to do anything and everything away from their parent’s gaze, and as such,

their options for social interaction away from the classroom are much expanded. But even

though it seems like social connection would go up in such a situation, it is instead loneliness

rates that rise. Again, we also see that even community groups are not a one stop shop for the

issue of loneliness. While joining such things like youth groups, school clubs, and gyms and

dojos undoubtedly help bring you closer to people and build a sense of community and bonding,

many such groups boldly shun people who need help the most. For example, there is a social

stigma that overweight and obese individuals got to that size by overeating all day and not

putting in an ounce of effort into bettering themselves. While it is true that to get to an obese

level, you must eat a lot, it is not always true that these people don’t want to change, but rather

there are barriers in their path in order for them to change. Gyms often have trainers that laser

focus on making the client lose weight, which may not be what they want, and have machines

that can only tolerate up to 300-400 pounds (Miller). There is also lack of clothing for such

people, and adding all these factors up, we can see that these groups are silently shunned from a

place they should be welcome to attend. People can also be loudly shunned, as many religious

institutions do to those who do not conform with their ideals of what is good, such as the

LGBT+, people who do not stick to one partner at a time or for life, and people with mental

illnesses (Greenblatt).
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Nowadays, loneliness is not yet a mainstream problem in the eyes of the public, but it is

beginning to be due to more and more talks about the topic, which is hard to talk about.

Numerous ideas have been thrown around as possible ‘cures’ for loneliness, such as mandatory

community groups at school (example: Advisory), talk of more awareness being brought in,

starting in school, and hopefully extending to the student’s whole life, more and more clubs and

opportunities being presented to youth and adults for socialization, and ideas of the revival of

dying traditional social institutions. While these are all solutions for some people, there will

never be a 1-step fix, and there will never be a 0% loneliness rate. However, a combination of

community attendance, be it through church, sports, clubs, or groups, and increased education

and knowledge of loneliness may just be enough of a push for it to not change everyone’s life

drastically, but just enough to reduce the rates gradually with each generation being more and

more likely to apply their knowledge of loneliness to invite the solemn person sitting by

themselves to their group and lowering the statistics, one new person, one new group, and one

changed community at a time.

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Sources Cited

Greenblatt, Alan. “Loneliness Epidemic.” Sage CQ Library, CQ Press, 5 May 2023,

cqpress.sagepub.com/cqresearcher/report/loneliness-epidemic-cqresrre20230505?

token=bb5172a9-af45-42c5-86c5-

829a32e0eddc52de33530f9e4e9a3acf131a47c94d20645cbd57437e3bf7d36477417e0060b1.

Murthy, Vivek H. “Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation - Hhs.Gov.” Our Epidemic of

Loneliness and Isolation, Surgeon General, 2023, www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/surgeon-

general-social-connection-advisory.pdf.

Surgeon General. “A Framework for a National Strategy to Advance Social Connection.”

Hhs.Gov, Office of the US Surgeon General, 2023,

www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/surgeon-general-social-connection-framework.pdf.

Surgeon General. “Social Connection - Current Priorities of the U.S. Surgeon General.” Social

Connection - Current Priorities of the U.S. Surgeon General, US Department of Health

and Human Services, 2023,

www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/priorities/connection/resources/index.html.

Piore, Adam. “As Teen Loneliness Rates Soar, Schools May Be Making It Worse.” Newsweek,

Newsweek Magazine, 11 Nov. 2022, www.newsweek.com/2022/11/18/teen-loneliness-

rates-soar-schools-may-making-it-worse-scientists-say-1758013.html.

Zahedi, Hamideh, et al. “The Magnitude of Loneliness and Associated Risk Factors among

University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study.” Iranian Journal of Psychiatry, U.S.

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National Library of Medicine, 17 Oct. 2022,

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9922349/#:~:text=Many%20university

%20students%20find%20the,being%20removed%20from%20close%20relationships.

Miller, Kelsey. “The Relentless Reality of Anti-Fatness in Fitness.” SELF, SELF, 11 Jan. 2022,
www.self.com/story/anti-fatness-fitness.