According to the Geneva-based World Health Organization (WHO), one in six people worldwide is affected by loneliness. +Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox A report by a WHO commission on social relationships found that loneliness and social isolation make people physically ill, contributing to 871,000 deaths a year around the world. Loneliness increases the risk of strokes and heart attacks, diabetes, depression, anxiety and suicide, among other things. Lonely teenagers are 22% more likely to get worse grades than their classmates, and lonely adults find it harder to find or keep a job. People and families are not only affected individually. They also cost society billions of dollars in healthcare costs and lost employment. The problem of mobile phones and living alone The co-chair of the commission, Vivek Murthy, defined loneliness: "Loneliness is a painful, subjective feeling that many of us experience when we don't have the relationships we need. In ...
