Has life gotten lonelier? You’re not the only one feeling this way. In 2023, the US Surgeon General declared loneliness and isolation as an epidemic in America. A 2024 national survey by the Harvard Graduate School of Education found that 21% of US adults had serious feelings of loneliness. Rising social isolation and loneliness present a number of health problems in our society today, including addiction.  Social Isolation, Defined What is social isolation, exactly? According to the American Medical Association,