61% of adults reported feeling lonely

[Leucosticte]

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/younger-generations-are-lonelier-and-social-media-doesnt-help-survey-finds-2020-01-23/

Loneliness is on the rise and millennials and members of Generation Z are lonelier than older generations, according to a new survey. The Cigna 2020 Loneliness Index is based on a questionnaire answered by more than 10,400 people.

The health insurance company said Thursday 61% of the adults surveyed reported they feel lonely, which is a seven percentage-point increase compared to 2018. It found men are slightly lonelier than women. But the biggest difference may be between generations. Nearly 79% of Gen Z respondents and 71% of millennials reported feeling lonely, compared to just half of the baby boomers.

I'm in the 61%, even though I'm not in Gen Z. Perhaps what it is, is that my life feels like it has more of a point these days, so that now I'm able to notice that if I feel lonely in going about my work. If I were just sitting here playing Final Fantasy, I might not notice the loneliness as much because I'd be thinking about how pointless my life is and how I have nothing to talk to people about anyway.

I have a book somewhere from a couple decades ago, about Social Phobia, that gave loneliness statistics, although I don't feel like going into the attic right now to grab it. Seemed like it was a pretty significant percentage, though, even back then. That's just how it is in an industrialized society, I guess, where we've either moved away from extended family because of work, or just moved for the SAKE of getting away from them (it wasn't even a byproduct of moving for some other reason, but people wanted their freedom from family, so they moved just to get away).