The Problem

Loneliness is on the rise.

In a recent study (Buecker et al., 2021), researchers looked at data from over 300 studies involving nearly 125,000 young adults who took a loneliness test between 1976 and 2019. They found that loneliness levels have been going up over the past 43 years. On average, loneliness increased steadily each year during that time. This means that loneliness among young adults has become more common over the years.

Loneliness is detrimental.

A recent meta-analysis (Leigh-Hunt et al., 2017) consistently found that being socially isolated or feeling lonely can lead to worse heart and mental health problems. There is strong evidence showing that both social isolation and loneliness are linked to higher chances of dying from any cause. This emphasizes the importance of addressing social isolation and loneliness in efforts to improve overall health and longevity.

Furthermore, feelings of loneliness have been linked to poorer sleep quality overall, especially affecting how well people thought they slept and how much their sleep troubles affected their daytime activities (Matthews et al., 2017)

Neurodivergents struggle with higher levels of loneliness.

Higher levels of introversion, neuroticism, autistic-like traits, and shyness have been correlated with feelings of loneliness (Bucker et al., 2020; Jobe & White, 2007)

Social anxiety is consistently linked to social isolation (Teo, Lerrigo, & Rogers, 2013) and people with social anxiety report greater loneliness (Oren-Yagoda, Melamud-Ganani, & Aderka, 2022).

Social networks are of equal importance to neurodivergents.

Interestingly, the link between social loneliness and happiness is more pronounced in individuals with higher introversion (Card & Skakoon-Sparling, 2023). This suggests that social connections are particularly crucial for the well-being of people who lean towards introversion.

In autistics, having more friends helps reduce loneliness, and having a greater number of friends predicts higher self-esteem and lower depression and anxiety levels (Mazurek, 2014).

Lasgaard, Nielsen, Eriksen, and Goosens (2010) found that while autistic teenagers were lonelier than a control group, perceived social support from peers was protective against loneliness.