Loneliness is an epidemic, and the health risks are 'profound,' US surgeon general warns
Isolation and loneliness are an epidemic as damaging to Americans' individual and public health as smoking and obesity, the surgeon general of the United States said in a stark advisory issued Tuesday.
Nearly half of U.S. adults reported experiencing loneliness in recent years, according to research cited in the advisory. A 2021 study commissioned by the Cigna healthcare company showed 79% of people ages 18 to 24 reported feeling lonely — a rate nearly twice as high as that of seniors ages 66 and older.
