If anything, this 25% number undersells just how big the worldwide loneliness crisis is.
According to a new Gallup poll that surveyed people in more than 140 countries, loneliness came up as a universal problem on some scale for half of the people polled.
Gallup was unable to survey China, but you can imagine the inclusion of that large communist country would only move the needle more toward an epidemic of loneliness.
Still, we know that there are more than a billion humans across the world who would say they are VERY or fairly lonely.
When one thinks of loneliness, often the picture is of an elderly person, either homebound or stuck in a nursing home. However, the results of this poll show the opposite.
Global results indicate that the lowest rates of feeling lonely are reported among older adults (aged 65 and older), with 17% feeling very or fairly lonely, while the highest rates of feeling lonely are reported among young adults (aged 19 to 29), with 27% feeling very or fairly lonely.
Although many calls to reduce loneliness are focused on older adults, majorities of those aged 45 and older do not feel lonely at all, while less than half of those younger than 45 say the same.
19-29 year olds are the loneliest generation.
In this author's opinion, the promise of the online global community through the internet turns out to just produce terminally online youths isolated from any real-life community.
The study also shows that there is no significant difference in the gender loneliness gap between men and women. They're just as likely to report feelings of loneliness.
This is a global crisis that's reaching unprecedented proportions.
It turns out that tearing down religion and local, traditional community wasn't liberating.
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