Man you ain't kidding. It's hard to find a quality dame that isn't religious and doesn't want kids.

It's like Where's Waldo for sociopaths.

I am not surprised. Younger people are still in the process of defining who they are and who they want to be. They are more emotionally insecure and more self-conscious, more afraid of what others may think of them. At old, many people know exactly who they are, and many of them are fully comfortable with who they are. In a way, lonliness is clearly related to insecurity.

It's because people seem to glorify introversion these days. I see so many posts and memes and comics about wanting to stay at home because shock! horror!. there are people out there! 'Yay, so-and-so cancelled so I can stay in and not wear pants and stare at Netflix all night!' 'Stupid extoverts can party all night, I'll stay at home with my cats because /I'm/ better than that.'

If they want to not be lonely, they have to, yanno, put on real clothing and step outside.

Most people seem to be socially inert these days. When they do go out around other people, they stare down at their phones constantly instead of having decent interactions.

I happen to enjoy a very social pursuit: tabletop roleplaying games (RPGs). They give me a great reason to go out and interact with other people on a regular basis. I also like making music with others, and that, by definition, requires getting out to be with those people. I know how to do both of those things with others via the Internet, but they're poor stand-ins for the real thing.

I'm happy that my daughter is very social and continues to get out and interact with people face-to-face, despite working and being the mother of a small child. Her husband is less social, but he supports her.

My partner says he'd be happy to never see anyone but me. That would make me crazy.

They're younger than their elders, too. As for the chronic loneliness bit, I've never felt overly lonely and whatever loneliness I've felt has been fleeting at it worst. I suggest that being lonely from time to time is normal and that chronic loneliness is self inflicted. That is to say, people who feel lonely too often are not psychologically equipped to face the world as it is and as a result retreat into external avenues that superficially appear to be socializing mechanisms but in fact are not. Internet media is one avenue and it seems to be increasing rapidly.

One example is this site. It is a form of social exchange, but it is not the kind of social exchange humans need to feel truly connected. That is best done at a table over coffee and face to face. It doesn't have to be intimate (dimly lit quiet bar), but can take place anywhere. Next on the list is an extended conversation on the phone/Skype/etc. Next down the list is writing/texting/etc. Cara a cara is by far the best and that's where large portions of younger folks fall down. Why? They've been raised thinking the things at the bottom of the list are socializing. They are so tied up in their cell iPhones/Smart phones, that they haven't developed the ability to make conversation with real people. After all, real people don't have a keypad. How can you communicate with that?

Fear is the main cause. Fear of being rejected. Scoffed at. Why? Because they haven't learned to initiate communication. They have a low self esteem. Maybe they've been given the message that they aren't worth it and that other people know that and won't want to talk to them. That wouldn't be a problem except that very few others have learned the skill of communication either and are scared to death too. All those people waiting for someone else to break the ice not realizing that no one will. Money has nothing to do with it. Striking up a conversation, making that connection, is free. It takes almost no time at all to get it started and once there it may change one's world. Chances are it will.

This doesn't surprise me much. A lot of people around my age are pretty much 'home-bodies' and the majority of the time it has to do with money. Ah money... the root of all ills.

Though my more cynical side can't help but think "oh great more reasons to hike up the premiums." in regards to the articles closing quote from Holt-Lunstad "I would hope that with a large insurer like Cigna [releasing a report on loneliness], that it would start to be more on the radar of major health organizations but also actual health care providers."

Of course they are. For starters they cannot talk to you on the phone. It's all texting. Just words on a screen. My 2 daughters are like this. This promotes a general fear of others to a point of not wanting to go to a job interview. Can you imagine hiring words on a screen? This is worse than the banks or loan companies that call you up out of the blue. The dating site people (most likely in Nigeria) who are in love with you in 5 texts. You have to have more social interaction than just words on a screen, and this is just one area of things that makes them more lonely.

It has to do with the isolation as a result of digital entertainment. People hardly watch shows together; each person has a phone or laptop and choose to watch their own specific source of entertainment. Family meals are becoming rare; it is a fast paced life, but people are losing their social support and contact. Some research: [aaswsw.org]