Until recently, mental balance was not even considered as part of human health. Mental disorders it was considered, at best, a luxury problem, while people with obvious symptoms were labeled ‘crazy’ or ‘schizophrenic’. It has taken countless years to understand that mental health is an integral part of overall health and that its disturbances can lead to serious morbidity and even death.

One of the emotions that oppresses people today is loneliness. The ever-increasing obligations, obstacles, and mistrust that govern human relationships prevent people from creating true and deep social contacts. As Aristotle also said, however, man is by nature a social being. Loneliness is not a natural state for him, which is why its imprint on mental health is more obvious than ever.

To highlight the seriousness of the problem, the American surgeon Vivek Murthy calls loneliness a ‘modern epidemic’, claiming it poses health risks as deadly as smoking 12 cigarettes a day. At the same time, he pointed out that the health problems associated with it cost the health industry billions of dollars annually, since hundreds of thousands of people around the world experience this difficult feeling.

“Loneliness is just like hunger or thirst. It is a signal sent by the body when something necessary for our survival is missing“, explains Dr. Murthy. “Millions of people worldwide struggle in the ‘dark’ with this problem.”

As found in his research, Dr. Murthy, the loneliness epidemic it particularly affects young people aged 15 – 24 years. In this age group there is currently a 70% reduction in contact time with loved ones.

The crisis of loneliness has been intense in recent years anyway, but it has seriously worsened with the advent of the pandemic, effectively driving people into literal isolation, away from their loved ones. Social contacts were almost embellished and this almost total lack of contact gave us a feeling of “knees off”.

And not without reason, since scientific evidence supports that loneliness is itself a factor that can increase the risk of premature death by almost 30%, while the lack of good social relationships was linked to a greater risk of stroke and heart disease.

Of course, the “table” of effects could not be absent from the psychological consequences, such as depression, anxiety, but also the risk of developing dementia.

The research findings also highlight the following paradox: One would expect modern technology to work in favor of communication, but in reality it has achieved the opposite: To alienate people even more. A related study found that people who use social media for 2 or more hours daily are more than twice as likely to feel socially isolated compared to those who use such apps for less than 30 minutes a day.

Dr. Murthy encourages people to participate in group activities and communities of people with common interests, making sure to strengthen their social bonds, which are an integral part of a happy life.

“There is no substitute for personal interaction,” emphasizes Dr. Murthy. “In using technology more and more to communicate, we’ve lost a lot of that personal interaction. Is it time to design a technology that strengthens our relationships, instead of weakening them?“, ends up.