559 - The Struggle of Loneliness

We're covering the topic of loneliness in today's episode. In 2023, the U.S. Surgeon General declared loneliness a public health crisis, and the physical health risks associated with loneliness are indeed staggering. We're going to dive into why loneliness seems to be at an all time high, pick apart some nuance regarding gender, age, and loneliness, and in the third part of the episode, go over some actionable tools on how to tackle loneliness. We'll talk about rewiring the brain, cultivating solitude, and how to become a social architect.

Sources and news articles referenced in this episode can be found here:

U.S. Surgeon General's Advisory on Loneliness and Isolation (2023)

https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/surgeon-general-social-connection-advisory.pdf

Pew Research Center: "Men, Women and Social Connections" (January 2025)

https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/01/ST_2024.1.16_social-connections_REPORT.pdf

Mindfulness training reduces loneliness and increases social contact in a randomized controlled trial

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1813588116

CDC: "Social Connection and Mental Health..." (Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2022 data)

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/73/wr/mm7324a1.htm

AIBM: "Male Loneliness and Isolation: What the Data Shows"

https://aibm.org/research/male-loneliness-and-isolation-what-the-data-shows/

Psypost: "Massive meta-analysis finds loneliness has increased in emerging adults in the last 43 years" (Report on Buecker et al. study, 1976-2019)

https://www.psypost.org/massive-meta-analysis-finds-loneliness-has-increased-in-emerging-adults-in-the-last-43-years/

University of Michigan: "Loneliness and isolation back to pre-pandemic levels, but still high for older adults" (National Poll on Healthy Aging)

https://ihpi.umich.edu/news-events/news/loneliness-and-isolation-back-pre-pandemic-levels-still-high-older-adults

ResearchGate: "Gender Differences in Loneliness" (Borys & Perlman, 1985 study)

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258180577_Gender_Differences_in_Loneliness

European Association of Personality Psychology: "Gender differences in loneliness across the lifespan: A meta-analysis"

https://www.earaonline.org/gender-differences-in-loneliness-across-the-lifespan-a-meta-analysis/

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health: "Loneliness is hurting our health, but these policies could help"

https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/loneliness-is-hurting-our-health-but-these-policies-could-help/

Our World in Data: "Social connections and loneliness"

https://ourworldindata.org/social-connections-and-loneliness

JEC Senate Report: "All the Lonely Americans"

https://www.jec.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/republicans/2018/8/all-the-lonely-americans

Aspen Valley Hospital: "Loneliness in Men"

https://aspenvalleyhealth.org/healthy-journey/loneliness-in-men/

Stanford Clayman Institute for Gender Research: "Men's loneliness is a feminist issue"

https://gender.stanford.edu/news/mens-loneliness-feminist-issue-men-without-men

Psychology Today: "The Practice That Can Ease Loneliness"

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/social-influence/202202/the-practice-can-ease-loneliness

Congress for the New Urbanism: "Fighting loneliness through community design"

https://www.cnu.org/publicsquare/2024/01/04/fighting-loneliness-through-community-design

Campaign to End Loneliness: "Tackling loneliness through the built environment"

https://www.campaigntoendloneliness.org/wp-content/uploads/CEL-Tackling-loneliness-through-the-built-environment-Final.pdf

American Psychiatric Association: "New APA Poll: One in Three Americans Feels Lonely..." (Mentions 5-for-5 Challenge)

https://www.psychiatry.org/news-room/apa-blogs/how-to-reduce-loneliness