The Zoomer Loneliness Epidemic

 

By Frank Filocomo

New research published by the UK's Office for National Statistics finds that "33% of Britons aged 16 to 29 reported feeling lonely 'often, always or some of the time' - the highest of all age groups (17% of over-70s said the same thing)."

While I've written about the effects of loneliness and social isolation on Zoomers, middle-aged people, and the elderly, that the former is impacted the worst is particularly troubling.

"The youth of today," Nelson Mandela famously remarked, "are the leaders of tomorrow."

Leaders, though, must be raised in environments that set them up for success. Individuals raised in isolation and without regular socialization, however, are off to a remarkably inauspicious start.

Thus, for Zoomers to flourish, they must be surrounded by a rich civic life with robust social connections.

In an article for BBC, Luke Mintz points to a few factors that might be contributing to the Zoomer loneliness epidemic.

One thing that Mintz touches on - the problem of "scattering" - is particularly salient. That is, for many people today, friends and family don't live near by, but are instead scattered around the country and thus out of physical reach. 

From the article:

In some ways, early adulthood has always been a time of instability. Young adults tend to leave their childhood home and move around. Friends depart, and family ties weaken. These transitory life events can, for some, lead to intense loneliness.

I've written about this kind of modern day sprawl before. From my research, this appears to mostly be a Western problem, as many parts of the non-West are more community-oriented and do not subscribe to the cultural ethos of hyper-individualism. 

Of course, a wholesale rejection of our rights-centric individualized culture would not be desirable either. The solution lies in what Amitai Etzioni advocated for: a balance between top-down order and individual liberties. 

Today, though, we have taken the latter - individual liberty, that is - to such an extreme that we - young people, especially - feel a kind of rudderlessness and disconnection. 

Thus, it is incumbent on us to actively seek out pockets of community and socialization that can, among other things, help moor us to a higher level of being and humanity. 

A friend of mine has found such a place in his Catholic church. Others, though, may find purpose and communion in secular organizations, like book clubs and other voluntary associations. 

Whatever it may be, Zoomers, many of whom work remote jobs, must find an excuse to venture outside of their apartments and fill the community-shaped hole in their souls.