From Isolation to Community: How the Church Can Mitigate the Loneliness Epidemic

It’s morning rush hour in New York City. A Manhattan-bound subway car is crammed with at least 100 people, but aside from the familiar squeal of wheels on metal, it’s eerily quiet.

No one is talking. No one is making eye contact. A handful of people appear to be asleep; the rest are wearing ear buds and grasping glowing screens.

They’re pressed in together, shoulder to shoulder, but occupying a hundred different worlds.

If a recent national study holds true, about 43 of those people feel isolated. Almost half of them would say they are sometimes or always lonely.

And about 47 of them would say they don’t have meaningful face-to-face interactions with others on a daily basis.

The younger people would most likely express the greatest struggle in this area; it’s no longer older Americans, but young adults between 18 and 22 who claim the title of the loneliest generation.

These are a few snapshots from a survey of 20,000 Americans conducted by Cigna, one of the largest health insurers in the country.

The company called the results “alarming” and joined a growing number of voices speaking out about a “loneliness epidemic” with dire consequences.

Americans of all ages, ethnic backgrounds and income levels are struggling with loneliness, whether they hail from sleepy, one-stoplight towns or “The City That Never Sleeps.” Read More

Image Credit: Eddi Aguirre/Unsplash