How Did the Loneliness Epidemic "Evade" Psychologists?

Translated from the article "How the Loneliness Epidemic Evaded Psychologists" by Dr. Edward Hoffman (originally published on Psychology Today).

Loneliness has recently become a hot topic widely discussed in the media and described as an "epidemic." Major news outlets like the New York Times and The Wall Street Journal have published numerous articles on the subject, especially following the "buzz-worthy" speech by Surgeon General Vivek Murthy at the University of California, Los Angeles. He declared that "mental health is the latest public health crisis of our era, and loneliness is at the heart of that crisis."

Dr. Murthy also cited numerous studies, asserting that loneliness is not merely a negative emotion but a pathological condition with "corrosive" effects, increasing the risk of depression, anxiety, heart disease, stroke, dementia, and suicide. He also emphasized that long-term loneliness is as detrimental to health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

It's a positive sign that the media and public are paying more attention to the issue of loneliness. However, a more critical question remains: Why did it take experts so long to recognize its severity? Did it naturally emerge as an unforeseen problem like COVID-19? Certainly not.

"Atomization" into Isolated Units

For decades, there have been clear signs that people are being "atomized" into isolated units, and this process has severe consequences for both individual and societal well-being. This term was coined by American philosopher Hannah Arendt, but it had no impact on personality theorists who celebrated individualism, indirectly shaping popular culture (as seen in magazines, music, and cinema) in many countries.

Why did this happen? Like other intellectual movements, humanistic psychology emerged from an ideology rather than a historical inevitability. Most of the "founding fathers" of this movement in the 1950s-60s were Americans (both native and immigrant). Humanistic psychology arose from their reactions to the events and social trends they witnessed or experienced in turbulent Europe.

Notable examples include the rise of authoritarianism under Hitler and Stalin, the nuclear arms race between the USSR and the USA, and how extreme anti-communism created a highly conformist society in America.

These humanistic psychologists viewed their research as a timeless scientific perspective that transcended the boundaries of time and culture. But clearly, they were still influenced by the issues of their era. These determined which aspects of human life they would deeply explore and which they would overlook or ignore.

Therefore, proponents of growth psychology were prone to the "trap" of viewing human nature through the lens of 20th-century American culture rather than a broader perspective. Figures like Abraham Maslow, Rollo May, and Carl Rogers tended to emphasize internal issues over social issues, such as family happiness, neighborly relations, or labor union solidarity—factors that significantly contribute to mental health.

An Overlooked "Insidious" Trend?

One of the aspects these experts inadvertently overlooked was societal atomization—an element that caused widespread loneliness, anxiety, and depression, particularly among adolescents. This may have been because, in the 20th century, societal atomization was still an "insidious" issue. But clearly, it now poses a very different (and global) threat compared to mass conformity.

Many examples from scientific research at the time demonstrated this. In "The Sane Society," Erich Fromm asserted that loneliness was causing people to lose their "primordial connection" with nature. Rollo May linked loneliness to solitude, a state that was considered to activate creativity and enlightenment.

Psychologist Clark Moustakas emphasized that loneliness "is an organic component of human existence, much like blood is to the heart." Meanwhile, Maslow, who always viewed autonomy as an ideal, ignored the entire subject.

It seemed that no one at the time understood that economic and social factors were driving the increasing prevalence of loneliness in many countries. Sociologist Philip Slater was the first to challenge this view in his book "The Pursuit of Loneliness," published in 1970. However, his warning was ignored by psychologists for more than a generation.

For example, Carl Jung argued that artists and creatives (the "lonely" ones) were often the first to sense new trends before society as a whole recognized them. In this context, Somerset Maugham's classic novel "Of Human Bondage," published in 1915, also depicted a young man suffering from insomnia due to loneliness in London.

In the following decades, American painter Edward Hopper created numerous works vividly depicting the loneliness of middle-aged individuals in both rural and urban settings. Closer to our time, writer Kurt Vonnegut repeatedly stated in his books and speeches, "Heart disease is not the leading cause of death, but loneliness is."

Vonnegut grew up in the Midwest of the United States, with a mother who suffered from depression and committed suicide when he was a teenager. He was fortunate to be raised by relatives on both sides, giving him the confidence to succeed as a novelist later in life. This experience likely inspired him and his wife to adopt three orphaned nieces and nephews in addition to their three biological children.

He wrote in his autobiography 50 years ago, "In a large family with many relatives, a child has many 'homes' to seek love and understanding from, instead of yearning for it within the nuclear family. The absence of relatives may be the sole cause of our invisible discontent, despite how prosperous life may be."

Interestingly, this perspective is supported by research on "blue zones" by author Dan Buettner. When studying why people in Okinawa (Japan) live longer than in many other parts of the Earth, Buettner found they all had strong social relationships—something that helped them foster and maintain a happy mental life.

In Japanese, there is even a specific term for this approach to life: moai. These are social support groups established to help each other in all aspects, from health and finance to spirituality. With no connotation of "individual autonomy," moai is a rather useful concept to help build a new model of personal development.