In his latest Psychology Today post, Hans Rocha IJzerman asks why researchers keep calling loneliness an epidemic, and what the label does to the search for solutions.
In public health, an epidemic is a rise above the expected level, often a sudden one. Loneliness trends look different. Among Americans over 50, the share reporting loneliness fell from 20.1% to 15.5% between 1996 and 2018, and in younger and midlife groups the picture is a slow drift in some countries and stability in others. When six independent teams reanalysed a widely cited study on time spent alone, the rise shrank to about 24 more minutes a day over 17 years once the pandemic year was left out.
The epidemic label points to a new cause, usually smartphones, while older factors such as income, safety nets, working hours, housing, and public space get less attention. IJzerman warns that research which promises too much loses the trust of practitioners, as happened in education, and argues for saying openly how ready the evidence is for use.
