Loneliness affects one in six people worldwide

Loneliness and social isolation make people physically ill, contributing to 871,000 deaths worldwide every year.

Loneliness increases the risk of strokes and heart attacks, diabetes, depression, anxiety and suicide, among other things. Lonely teenagers are 22 percent more likely to get worse grades than their classmates, and lonely adults find it harder to find or keep a job. People and families are not only affected individually. They also cost society billions in healthcare costs and lost employment, for example.

The problem of cell phones and living alone

The co-chair of the commission, Vivek Murthy, defines loneliness as follows: "Loneliness is a painful, subjective feeling that many of us experience when we don't have the relationships we need. In contrast, social isolation is an objective state in which there are few relationships or interactions."

One in three older people and one in four adolescents are estimated to be socially isolated, according to the report. The causes include illness, poor education and low income, a lack of opportunities for social contact and living alone, as well as digital technologies.

According to Murthy, people have been communicating for thousands of years not only through words, but also through facial expressions, body language, voice and silence. This is lost when they communicate constantly via cell phones and social media.

Activity cards for young people in Sweden

The WHO cites Sweden as a good example: The country has a national strategy against loneliness, as reported by the Swedish Minister of Social Affairs, Jakob Forssmed. It has been recognized that not only the lonely have a problem, but society as a whole. In Sweden, conscious efforts are now being made in many places to facilitate social contact, for example in stores or restaurants, in neighborhoods or clubs. All children and young people will soon be given money cards, but they will only be able to use them to book group activities for their free time.

Sweden will ban cell phones in public schools, said the minister. Studies have shown that this increases social contact and reduces cyberbullying. Children and young people sleep better and find it easier to put their cell phones away in their free time. Children are also often frustrated when their parents are constantly busy with their cell phones, said Forssmed.

Digital technologies have their good points, the commission emphasizes. They allow contact, for example via video, which was previously impossible. Nevertheless: "It is very important to have places and spaces in our lives where we can interact face-to-face with other people without being distracted by technology," said Murthy.