Carlos Solis
People often confuse social isolation with loneliness — but they aren’t the same. Social isolation is measurable: you can count how many people live with you or how many social contacts you have. is purely subjective. People can feel lonely even when they’re surrounded by others. Also remember that everyone has a different internal threshold: some people need far more social contact than others to feel OK.
How Loneliness Harms Your Health
Long-term studies of people aged 50 and older found that higher loneliness scores at the start predicted worse symptoms 12 years later. Anna Finley, a psychologist at North Dakota State University, says the relationship runs both ways: loneliness can come before depression, and depression can deepen loneliness.
Evidence linking loneliness to dementia is growing. A 2024 study of more than 600,000 participants found that lonely people had a 31% higher risk of developing . Other research suggests that having a sense of purpose and belonging to a social community can slow cognitive decline even when neurodegenerative changes are present.
On the physical side, a 2025 analysis of 52 studies published since 1989 found that among people aged 50 and older, loneliness raised all-cause mortality by 14% and raised cardiovascular mortality by 30%. Social isolation carried even higher risks: 35% for all-cause mortality and 37% for death from heart disease. Part of that difference comes from close contacts helping with medication, medical appointments, diet, and daily habits.
Researchers describe loneliness as a form of “social pain” — a biological signal similar to hunger or thirst. That signal activates stress pathways in the body, increases inflammation, and raises the risk of chronic illness.
What Helps: From Therapy to Artificial Intelligence
The most convincing interventions for loneliness are psychotherapies, especially cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which targets distorted thinking that can keep someone stuck in loneliness. “In therapy you try to figure out why a person feels lonely and how to help them rebuild social connections,” Finley explains. A 2025 review found that CBT produces a moderate reduction in loneliness.
A European project with a five-million-euro budget is funding clinical trials of programs that take place in natural settings. A Helsinki trial among older adults showed that group walks in parks and forests reduced loneliness and improved sleep. Arts and gardening clubs, group exercise classes, and volunteering also help people feel more connected.
Psychologists do not view getting a pet as a perfect fix for loneliness. If someone wants human company, replacing that need with an animal may not solve the underlying problem.
Technology is offering new options. Personal voice assistants can sometimes provide a sense of company that helps reduce loneliness. makes it possible to tailor a digital companion’s “personality” and to store memories of past conversations. Some apps even recreate the voices of deceased relatives.
A large share of younger people’s communication already happens through chatbots and other digital models. How that will affect future generations of older adults is unclear: on one hand, those future older adults may not need training to use the technology; on the other, they might interact more with machines than with people.
Based on BBC Science Focus
