Just to be clear, there is a loneliness epidemic: hhs.gov/…/surgeon-general-social-connection-advis…

In the scientific literature, I found confirmation of what I was hearing. In recent years, about **one-in-two adults in America reported experiencing loneliness.**1-3 And that was before the COVID-19 pandemic cut off so many of us from friends, loved ones, and support systems, exacerbating loneliness and isolation.

Loneliness is far more than just a bad feeling—it harms both individual and societal health. It is associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety, and premature death. The mortality impact of being socially disconnected is similar to that caused by smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day,4 and even greater than that associated with obesity and physical inactivity. And the harmful consequences of a society that lacks social connection can be felt in our schools, workplaces, and civic organizations, where performance, productivity, and engagement are diminished.

Dunking on incels who equate loneliness with a lack of sex and ascribing the “male loneliness epidemic” to being a meme made up by chronically online social media users is a mistake.

Everyone is experiencing loneliness.

Just because women suffer in silence while some men turn to antisocial behavior doesn’t mean that this is a problem that’s fabricated or only affecting men.

If you’re resistant to believing that this is a real problem because the people making noise about it on social media are primarily men then you’re ignoring reality.