Loneliness is a “disease”, associated with an increased risk of death equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Strides have been made in understanding what form of loneliness is damaging (a lack of close relationships with other people, rather than a lack of relationships per se), but ways to tackle loneliness are badly needed.

A lot of our cultural problems are issues with no clear government or policy solution. But they represent huge problems nonetheless.

More and more people are working where they live, attracted by the promise of flexibility, efficiency and no commute. But does this come at a cost to their wellbeing?

Coworking spaces, friendship apps, and adult dorms are selling human connection.

This new article will show you everything you need to know about how to enjoy being alone. A huge number of people around the world hates being alone.

Get out and volunteer, research suggests

Crumbs and stripes of jam are left behind on plates, sitting on a polka-dot tablecloth. Clusters of people lounge and chat on sofas and armchairs sprayed with floral patterns or stripes. The space “probably looks a lot like your grandma’s house,” says Maff Potts. “I don’t know if that’s a compliment.” It’s cozy and unpretentious; it invites plopping down and staying put for a while.

“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction (i.e., the reality of experience) and the distinction between true and false (i.e., the standards of thought) no longer exist.” By Maria Popova.

“I could take a bath in Paris while listening to someone in Los Angeles complain about her dating life.” By Pamela Druckerman. (Mar. 17, 2017)

Hayley Campbell quit her job and moved into an empty flat. Here she explains the tough but peculiar pleasures of seclusion.

The country that put the starch in “stiff upper lip” has made companionship, conversation and human contact a national priority. On Wednesday, British Prime Minister Theresa May announced the creation of a new ministerial portfolio in her Cabinet: combating loneliness.

So many Japanese people die alone, there's a whole industry devoted to cleaning up after them.

Studies show loneliness is bad for our health, raising the risk of premature death and a wide range of illnesses. Scientists are exploring what it does to the human body

There are, broadly, two kinds of structural lonelinesses. One is the benign loneliness of the socially alienated, the other the malignant melancholy of the erstwhile master. By Amba Azaad.

Loneliness is deadlier than obesity and should be considered a major public health hazard, the biggest ever review into the problem has suggested.

We tend to decry being alone. But emerging research suggests some potential benefits to being a loner – including for our creativity, mental health and even leadership skills.

The obesity epidemic could be fuelling Britain’s growing problem of loneliness, scientists believe, after discovering a genetic link between the two conditions. Around a quarter of people over 65 in Britain suffer from loneliness, which can raise the risk of many diseases, and can even cause people to die earlier, while nearly two thirds are overweight.

One in three adults is affected by loneliness. It's time for us to take a risk and let others into our lives, says Olivia Remes, PhD candidate at the Cambridge Institute of Public Health, writing for The Conversation. Loneliness is a common condition affecting around one in three adults. It damages your brain, immune system, and can lead to depression and suicide. Loneliness can also increase your risk of dying prematurely as much as smoking can – and even more so than obesity.

Social isolation can be as unhealthy as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, and loneliness affects nearly half of Americans—but few organizations are addressing this critical psychosocial risk factor. Here are three strategies, shared by leading organizations, to address the epidemic.

Smartphones and social media are blamed, but moderate use can be beneficial

When Matt Lees became a full-time YouTuber, he felt as if he had won the lottery. As a young, ambitious writer, director and presenter, he was able to create low-budget, high-impact films that could reach a worldwide audience, in a way that would have been impossible without the blessing of television’s gatekeepers just a few years earlier. In February 2013, he had his first viral hit, an abridged version of Sony’s announcement of its PlayStation 4 video game console, dubbed with a cheerily acerbic commentary. Within days the video had been watched millions of times.

Limiting the utilization of social media Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat directly leads to reductions in loneliness and depression, per a recent study revealed by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania. The study is titled “No more FOMO: Limiting Social Media Decreases Loneliness and Depression,” and as a part of it, researchers determined 143 college boy students over 3 weeks.

When people have a hole in their life, they often fill it with angry politics.

Spending too much time on “social media” sites like Facebook is making people more than just miserable. It may also be making them depressed. A new study looked at 504 millennials who actively use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and/or Snapchat, individuals who met the criteria for a major depressive disorder scored higher on the “Social Media Addiction” scale.

Emerging research discovers loneliness is more prevalent than expected and may wax and wane throughout an adult’s life. Although feeling lonely is linked to a host of mental and physical issues, investigators did not discover an association with serious illness and found that wisdom appears to mitigate loneliness.

People who feel psychologically dependent on their smartphone also tend to be less happy with their romantic relationship, according to research published in Psychology of Popular Media Culture. “My primary area of interest is children and advertising but a couple of years ago I conducted a study working with some undergraduate students where we looked at smartphone use/dependency and relationship attitudes.

There is a difference between loneliness (the imposition of social isolation) and aloneness (the choice of being alone), and thus the brain reacts in very different ways. Loneliness, or social isolation, affecting a large part of the population as it became an epidemic in the last few years, is known to cause changes in the brain, possibly leading to more serious consequences such as depression and other mood disorders.

Scientists have discovered 12 new natural satellites around Jupiter. According to CNN, scientists have made a new discovery within the scope of the study, which was created to detect the solar system’s nesting planet. Scientists believe that there is another planet in the edge of the solar system.

Bill Langlois has a new best friend. She is a cat named Sox. She lives on a tablet, and she makes him so happy that when he talks about her arrival in his life, he begins to cry. All day long, Sox and Mr. Langlois, who is 68 and lives in a low-income senior housing complex in Lowell, Mass., chat. Mr. Langlois worked in machine operations, but now he is retired. With his wife out of the house most of the time, he has grown lonely.