The Friendship Recession

Dealing With A Loneliness Epidemic

C. J. C. Mattison

ONE OF THE MOST COMMON REGRETS amongst the ageing population is their longing to have stayed in touch with more of their old friends. Yet in a world that you would expect to be more connected than ever, with friends being a mere two swipes away, society has been struck by a ‘friendship recession’ with more than 15% of individuals claiming to have no close friends. These alarming statistics pose the importance of why friendships are a necessity and what the cause of these stark numbers is.

But how bad is being lonely? I mean, it’s how we punish criminals – by trapping them in gaol and taking away their freedom of sociability. Yet broader society, as the statistics have shown, seems to be doing similar things subconsciously to itself. Loneliness fosters negative mental health, with the journal PLOS Medicine boldly claiming that loneliness has health impacts that are comparable to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. This culminates in individuals feeding off their own internal negativity and lavishing on their own self-deprecation, which fosters alienation and feelings of detachment from society. Loneliness is also causing increased stress which leads to a magnitude of physical health issues such as sleep deprivation, weight gain and poor heart health.

Social media may be one of the main contributors to this pressing issue. Individuals find themselves thinking inadequately about their own circumstances as they find themselves languishing over their peers’ seemingly perfect lives. These façades of social media shovelling constant images of success can make individuals jealous that they can’t live similar lives, causing social disconnect and an inability to foster healthy relationships as a result. The data very much supports this trend, with younger generations being the primary users of social media whilst also being the primary demographic facing mental health issues.

Globalisation is also one of the key causes of the supposed ‘friendship recession’ as it has caused increased productivity and a growing risk of technological progress exacerbating this pressing issue with “emergency departments being overrun by mental health patients with a 76% increase in mental health related emergencies from 2005-2017” (Daily Telegraph). 

A key thing to note is that this issue may make individuals feel more pressured to form relationships and act in a certain way to become more personable and create more friendships. However, individuals shouldn’t change in an attempt to seem more popular or funnier and risk social isolation and overall sense of detachment and impersonality. Instead, engage with activities that you love. Life is about experiences and through these experiences, relationships will flourish with the people you meet along the way. It’s due to such relationships that individuals can find fulfilment in its purest form, and ultimately increase the sociability and well-being of our society.