COMMUNITYCONNECTIONLONELINESS
Loneliness Isn’t the Crisis, Our Misunderstanding of Loneliness Is
Why the start of a new year is the right moment to reframe the conversation and build human connection:
A new year often brings reflection, resolutions, and a collective desire to “do better” for our health, our work, and our lives. As I’ve been thinking about what it really means to start the year off right, this article that I read earlier in the year stopped me in my tracks. It was about the so-called crisis of loneliness, and it reinforced something I’ve believed since the very beginning of GenWell: the real crisis isn’t loneliness itself.
The real crisis is that we have never educated people on what loneliness truly is, why it happens, and how simple, intentional human connection can help alleviate it. We enter each new year setting goals, building routines, and planning activities as families, classrooms, workplaces, and communities. And yet, many people don’t fully participate in the connections available to them. Why? Because they don’t recognize the critical importance of social connection and social health, or the profound ways they shape our mental, physical, and societal well-being.
The article that inspired this post: There is no loneliness epidemic — so why do we keep talking as if there is?
The Problem With How We Talk About Loneliness
Instead of treating loneliness as the universal human experience it is, we’ve pathologized it. We’ve framed it as a personal failing or a mental health disorder, and in doing so, we’ve created stigma. We’ve left people believing they are alone in their loneliness, when in fact, feelings of disconnection are something everyone experiences at some point in life, including during times of transition, like the start of a new year.
Even more concerning, we’ve failed to equip people with the knowledge, tools, and encouragement they need in order to take small, everyday actions to connect. Actions that could significantly improve well-being for themselves and those around them. Over the last 4 or 5 years, the idea of a global “loneliness epidemic” has been a headline-grabbing narrative. It stirred urgency and brought the topic into the public conversation. But as The Conversation points out, perhaps it’s time for a reframing: loneliness itself isn’t the problem. The problem is that as a society, we are unprepared to recognize it, understand it, and respond in healthy, proactive ways.
At GenWell, This Has Been Our Focus Since Day One
Since our launch in 2016, we’ve maintained a clear stance: loneliness is not a disease, crisis, or mental health issue. It’s a signal, much like hunger or thirst, telling us that we need to reconnect. The challenge is not the feeling itself, but our lack of awareness and action. Most of us have never been taught to identify feelings of loneliness early or respond constructively, either for ourselves or for others. And when we start a new year without that understanding, we often repeat the same patterns of disconnection without realizing it.
Of course, some people do experience persistent or chronic loneliness. Canadian research, including some from GenWell, suggests that 8–13% of Canadians, roughly 4 to 5 million people, live in this state for extended periods. For these individuals, programs like social prescribing and the first-ever clinical guidelines on social isolation and loneliness in older adults from the Canadian Coalition for Seniors’ Mental Health are vital.
But if we truly want this year to be different, we need to meet people where they are now and educate the broader population so they can address loneliness before it becomes chronic.
Why We Once Called It a “Crisis”
Before the pandemic, conversations about social disconnection were often dismissed. I can’t count how many times the idea of a “Human Connection Movement” was met with skepticism, even laughter.
That’s why terms like “loneliness crisis” or “loneliness epidemic” became necessary at the time. They cut through apathy and grabbed attention. They gave us a foothold with early adopters; researchers, funders, media outlets, and community leaders who recognized the issue and were ready to take action.
But as we look ahead to a new year, it’s clear that this language has limitations. Framing loneliness as something abnormal or shameful can deter people from seeking help early. It may even cause them to wait until their disconnection becomes severe — when small, simple interventions might have been enough to change the course.
From Individual Responsibility to Collective Awakening
At the start of every year, we’re encouraged to focus on personal responsibility: exercise more, eat better, manage stress. While those are important, the solution to social disconnection can’t rest solely on individuals. It takes two to connect, and often the people who most need connection are the least able to initiate it.
Loneliness and isolation are societal issues, and they require societal solutions. If we want a healthier year ahead, we must build conditions that make connection easier, more accessible, and more expected for everyone. That means awakening classrooms, workplaces, neighbourhoods, and communities to the power of intentional human connection.
This is the heart of GenWell’s work. Whether through social health workshops in workplaces, classrooms, and communities, or free, inclusive national campaigns like our upcoming Face-to-Face February, and targeted programs for students and seniors, we help Canadians start, and continue, the year with connection in mind.
Social Health Is Preventative Health
The science is clear: strong social connections lower the risk of anxiety, depression, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, dementia, chronic illness, and early mortality. They boost empathy, strengthen the immune system, encourage civic engagement, and enhance resilience. And yet, as we set health goals year after year, social health is still missing from most conversations.
It’s time to change that.
When we prioritize social health, we move from crisis response to prevention. We stop treating loneliness as a personal flaw and start recognizing connection as a shared responsibility, one that benefits us all now and throughout the year.
What If More People Knew?
The final paragraph of The Conversation article poses a question I think about daily:
“What would happen if people didn’t learn to think of themselves as victims of loneliness, but instead had the knowledge and support to accept it as a normal part of being human — and to do something about it?”
This is exactly what GenWell is working toward. Most people still don’t know we exist, but those who do often tell us our message has shifted how they view relationships, well-being, and their role in creating a more connected society.
We help people see that you don’t need to wait for a crisis to connect. A walk with a neighbour. A coffee with a friend. Sharing a meal with coworkers. These aren’t small gestures; they’re acts of personal and collective care.
What would happen if more people made connection part of their intentions for the year ahead? If workplaces, schools, and communities treated connection not as an afterthought, but as a foundation?
That’s the future we’re working toward. And as this new year begins, we invite you to be part of it.
Join the movement. Let’s connect.
www.GenWell.ca
