Chronic Loneliness as the Existential Global Mental Health Concern

In their new systematic review, researchers from Queen Mary University of London (including psychologists, mental health professionals, and experts with lived experience) examine how chronic loneliness has emerged as a distinct form of suffering that resists easy classification within traditional mental health frameworks.

Analyzing 60 studies, the team describes chronic loneliness as “a subjective and distressing experience that arises when there is a gap between the social connections one desires and the quality or quantity of social connections one actually has.”

What distinguishes chronic loneliness is not just its lasting nature but also its impact on quality of life and its connection to trauma, marginalization, and cultural significance. Instead of being a temporary feeling, this paper presents chronic loneliness as both an existential and political condition. This perspective highlights the shortcomings of biomedical models and emphasizes the need for interventions that address the complete social, emotional, and relational context of human life.

Recent years have seen a surge of interest in loneliness as a global health issue. The World Health Organization has identified it as a serious public concern, and researchers such as Julianne Holt-Lunstad have warned that “lacking social connection carries a risk similar to smoking up to 15 cigarettes per day.” But this latest study, titled Defining and Understanding the Next Global Mental Health Challenge: Chronic Loneliness, argues that this persistent form of loneliness may require new forms of understanding and care.

“The concept of loneliness has been exponentially gaining interest from a diverse range of stakeholders: clinicians/health professionals, educators and teachers, policy-makers, community service-providers, and the general public,” the authors write. “The emerging political agenda highlights the need to develop and innovate resources and programs to support those experiencing loneliness.”

Importantly, the review was co-produced with meaningful involvement from individuals who have experienced chronic loneliness, both with and without co-occurring mental health difficulties. One of the study’s co-authors is an independent lived experience consultant, and the project was supported by funding from the Centre for Public Engagement at Queen Mary University of London.

This participatory approach reflects a broader movement toward more democratic and context-sensitive knowledge production in mental health. By incorporating experiential expertise alongside academic research, the authors were able to foreground the emotional, relational, and political dimensions of loneliness that standardized metrics often overlook.