Why loneliness puts you in the health danger zone
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It’s not just our mental health at risk – prolonged social isolation can be as harmful to health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
By Jenny Tucker
The stats don’t lie. Loneliness is endemic in our society. According to the Office of National Statistics (ONS), around a quarter of adults (27%) report they have felt lonely always, often or some of the time. Age UK reveals that nearly a million older people across the country say they repeatedly feel lonely, while 4.2 million people aged over 65 live alone. And that’s the ones we know about. Data aside, what about those who fall under the research radar, living silently in loneliness? The numbers are likely to be far greater.
The taboo around admitting feeling lonely gets in our way. No wonder people are reluctant to acknowledge it, especially when ugly terms like ‘sad loner’ evoke connotations of desolation and rejection. Few of us find it easy to own up to being in need, and if loneliness has already eroded our confidence, admission is ...
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