Concrete steps you can take when you’re feeling especially lonely
Photo: Tara Moore/Getty Images We live in lonely times. The elderly are lonely. The teens are lonely. People are lonely in cities and in rural areas, so much so that it’s now considered a public-health issue . In a cover story for the Harvard Business Review last year, former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy declared that “the world is suffering from an epidemic of loneliness.”
The results weren’t exactly uplifting: Nearly half of respondents said they sometimes or always felt alone, more than 40 percent said they sometimes or often feel that their relationships aren’t meaningful, and only slightly more than half said they have a meaningful in-person social interaction each day. A score of 43 or above was considered a marker of loneliness ; the average was 44, with Generation Z as the hardest-hit age group.
Practice small talk with cashiers and the other people you encounter throughout your day. When you go into your favorite coffee shop, make a simple comment about the weather or the music that’s playing. Don’t think of this as a time to start a long conversation, more as a way of making those brief, seemingly impersonal interactions a bit more friendly and inviting. It can decrease the feeling of loneliness as you’re building your social network in other areas.
Second, use info from social media as a conversation starter. It’s difficult to forgo social media, but we can make wiser choices about how we incorporate it into our daily lives. That doesn’t necessarily mean going on a digital detox, but rather using the info you glean from a friend’s social-media reel as a conversation starter the next time you get together. Or better yet, use the information as an opportunity to reach out and make plans to see each other.
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