We all must help fight the scourge of loneliness

Survey after survey, analysis after analysis, reminds us what we already know: The mental health crisis continues to reverberate in our region and across the country. The impacts are dangerous and disturbing, even as we struggle for solutions.

A recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study showed that deaths by suicide among those ages 10 to 24 increased 62% from 2007 to 2021. In 2021, suicide was the second-leading cause of death in that same age group.

But it's not just our young people who are hurting. The CDC study followed a May report from U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy that found that even before the COVID-19 pandemic, about half of U.S. adults felt measurable levels of loneliness. The pandemic made us all feel worse, and those feelings didn't subside even as the world opened up again. 

Such loneliness is frighteningly unhealthy. For children, the disconnect can stunt academic, social and emotional growth. It can affect adults personally and professionally, impacting worker productivity, creativity and job performance. The consequences, Murthy said, can be severe. Being socially disconnected, he said, has the equivalent physical impact of smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force last month recommended that adults under 65 be screened for anxiety disorders and reaffirmed an earlier recommendation that adults of all ages be screened for depression. That's particularly important, experts say, because adults often won't begin mental health care on their own. But it's only meaningful if such care is readily available and affordable.

To treat these issues with the urgency they deserve, public investments are necessary, just as we have done for obesity, addiction, smoking or other conditions. Local, state and federal officials can also address related social issues, by funding paid family leave, community outreach programs, and even improved public transportation to allow people to better connect with one another and reach beyond their neighborhood boundaries. Understanding how to address the ability of technology to distance people, especially the young, from valuable social interaction is critical.

This is a problem that needs more than the public sector to solve. A March survey conducted by the nonpartisan research organization NORC at the University of Chicago and The Wall Street Journal found that just 39% of Americans said that religion was very important to them — down from 62% in 1998. Making stronger connections through religious or social groups or through in-person relationships with neighbors and friends could help. We all must watch for those among us who are suffering.

The experts are rightly sounding the alarms. We need to hear them. Even as each of us may feel lonely, it's important for all of us to know we are not alone.

If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please call or text 988 to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.