By now, we’re familiar with the booming mental health crisis affecting billions of people globally. Depression and anxiety are some of the more commonly mentioned afflictions that create a poisonous cocktail of lost work years, huge economic impact, and flat-out pain. But there’s another plague steadily taking hold and specifically targeting millennials, the 23-38 year old age group. This plague, which could justifiably be called a disease in its own right, is loneliness. In a recent Yougov poll, a staggering 22% of millennials claimed to have “no friends”, while 30% said they have “no best friends”. These numbers are significantly higher than those reported by Gen Xers and baby boomers. The broader lesson we can draw here is that, while thinking of ways to address the global mental health crisis, we should perhaps look at loneliness as a major culprit and problem area, especially when it comes to younger people.
