Why your brain craves connection—and what happens without it Medically reviewed by Steven Gans, MD Social isolation can increase feelings of depression and anxiety. People who are socially isolated ...

Loneliness/social isolation isn’t just a transient emotion or situation, it’s turned into a global crisis with serious public health consequences. In 2023, then–US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, MD, ...

As a child, Genesy Mendez struggled with anxiety and lacked confidence when it came to socializing. The pandemic compounded things, and the 29-year-old elementary school teacher says she felt out of ...

Reseach has found that the feeling of not belonging and being failed by the current system can make people receptive to ...

Experts aren't quite sure what's in store for us this cold, flu and COVID season. But with a new flu variant beginning to spread in the U.S. and low COVID vaccination rates, this may be a more severe ...

As teens spend less time with their friends in person, scientists are beginning to uncover how isolation may affect the developing “social brain." Here’s what we know—and when parents should be ...