Loneliness: An American Reality
Loneliness in America is no longer a quiet, passing feeling—it has become a shared crisis. What once came and went now lingers, shaping daily life for millions. By 2020, more than one-third of adults reported living with chronic isolation, a number that has only grown since the pandemic. Over decades, face-to-face connection has slowly eroded, replaced by screens that promise closeness but often deliver distance. Nowhere is this ache more visible than among Gen Z, a generation more connected than any before, yet struggling deeply to feel seen, known, or truly together.
Feeling Lonely? You Are Not Alone.
Loneliness in the United States is increasingly recognized as a significant public health crisis. Epidemiological studies estimate that between 20% and 33% of U.S. adults experience loneliness on a regular basis. Although prevalence estimates vary across methodologies and populations, there is broad consensus that the incidence and impact of loneliness have increased substantially in recent decades. In response to this growing body of evidence, the U.S. Surgeon
General formally identified loneliness as a public health epidemic in 2023.
Prior to the 1980s, loneliness was commonly conceptualized as a secondary symptom of depression or other psychiatric disorders. However, contemporary longitudinal and clinical research has demonstrated that loneliness constitutes an independent, chronic condition that serves as a causal risk factor for a range of adverse mental and physical health outcomes. Rather than merely co-occurring with mental illness, loneliness has been shown to precipitate and exacerbate multiple pathological processes.
According to the National Institutes of Health, chronic loneliness is associated with increased risk for depression, substance use disorders, sleep disturbances, child maltreatment, personality pathology, and neurocognitive decline, including Alzheimer’s disease. Emerging evidence also links loneliness to cardiovascular disease, immune dysregulation, and increased all-cause mortality.
Accurate identification and differentiation of the various forms and subtypes of loneliness are critical to the development of effective, durable intervention strategies. Without precise diagnostic frameworks, treatment approaches risk being insufficiently targeted or ineffective.
By applying the validated methods of Deinoostrics, DROM offers evidence-based strategies designed to mitigate loneliness among vulnerable populations, including older adults and at-risk youth.