More and more people are feeling alone, and it’s causing and impacting more and more health problems.
Medical professionals are sounding the alarm, and in today’s Healthier Together KIRO 7’s Ranji Sinha takes a look at loneliness, the real risks to your health, and what can be done.
“It’s something that I think we’ve been dealing with more increasingly now in society,” says Dr. Nicole Saint Clair Executive Medical Director of Regence BlueShield.
She says even before the pandemic isolated people through social distancing, loneliness was already an issue across America.
CBS News recently reported on a study from Emory University that found middle aged Americans having some of the highest rates of loneliness, and that loneliness increased with age.
“We’ve identified loneliness in seniors it’s much more common,” says Dr. Saint Clair, though she also stresses that separation in society and feeling lonely is a concern for nearly everyone. “People find themselves frequently much more isolated than in the past and dealing with these feelings of loneliness at a profound level.”
The doctor says loneliness can be linked to anxiety and depression, along with greater risk for heart attack, stroke, and dementia.
CDC data from 2022 found loneliness was significantly more common among women than among men (33.5% versus 30.7%), whereas lack of social and emotional support was more common among men than among women (22.3% versus 26.1%).
Dr. Saint Clair says teens, increasingly feel isolated despite connecting through technology.
She knows that the solution sounds simple, but is in fact very difficult to achieve. “First try to get a little more connected with other people,” she says.
Getting started to make those connections is one of the key issues.
The doctor says much like anything in life, organizing through scheduling is a good first step.
She says setting up schedules to talk, join others and plan for social interactions is a good way to ensure you interact with others, perhaps feel less lonely and guarantee that you are working towards not being alone.
From there, people joining social groups or activities. That can increase interactions and relationships.
Dr. Saint Clair does say at certain points, loneliness could lead to medical treatment and therapy. “If it’s feeling pervasive, we’re feeling like this is starting to disrupt my activities, every day I’m feeling like this or throughout the week.”
The ultimate goal she says is dealing with mental impacts of loneliness before it becomes a physical problem. “So it is something to manage to preserve your good health.”
©2025 Cox Media Group
