Of all the myths around mental health and social isolation, one of the hardest to wrap our heads around is that loneliness isn’t about not having anyone in your life, or the physical circumstance of, say, being alone on a Friday night. Single people who live alone may experience no yearning for others, just as people surrounded by friends and loved ones may still feel the pang of loneliness. Still, the stigma remains. We often associate loneliness with being socially alienated, which is why we erroneously underestimate the pervasiveness of loneliness amongst millennials and Gen Zs, given their hyperconnectedness.
