A new study determined what most of us already guessed: Pandemic shutdowns and forced social isolation led to a global increase in levels of loneliness.
Researchers compared 34 studies with more than 200,000 participants from around the globe to study their levels of loneliness before and after the pandemic. As literally everyone outside the expert class could have predicted, they found an increase in loneliness after the onset of the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown policies.
The lead author of the study, Dr. Mareike Ernst of Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz in Germany, stated that this loneliness could cause "premature mortality."
The pandemic does appear to have increased loneliness. Given the small effect sizes, dire warnings about a ‘loneliness pandemic' may be overblown. However, as loneliness constitutes a risk for premature mortality and mental and physical health, it should be closely monitored.
The real surprise here is that the study only determined that there was a 5 percent increase in loneliness.
Researchers noted that social isolation and loneliness are not exactly the same, but the studies do show a predictable correlation between the two things.
Social isolation means having a small social network and few interactions with others, while loneliness is the painful feeling of having less or poorer quality social connections than a person wants.
The team of researchers hope to do more targeted research in the future to determine which groups are at the highest risk, such as children and the elderly, and what steps can be taken to mitigate that risk.
Ernst went on to say:
Strong evidence supporting interventions addressing loneliness remains limited. The increase in loneliness associated with the pandemic highlights the need for a concerted effort to strengthen that evidence base.
I have a wild suggestion here: Don't force people to socially isolate themselves.
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