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Are you lonely? If you’re young, chances are pretty good that your answer to this question is “yes”. A recent study of over 55,000 people found that young people are the most likely to feel lonely; indeed, young people are much lonelier even than elderly people. But why is that? It might not be for the reasons that you would expect.
BBC recently conducted a major survey of over 55,000 individuals, and discovered that 40 percent of 16-24 year olds report feeling lonely either often or very often. The same is true for only 27 percent of people older than 75.
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Studies do show that social media has an impact on people’s mental health, and especially that of young people. It can increase feelings of depression, loneliness, and anxiety. However, this is not the only reason for the loneliness of young people.
People of all ages reported feeling most lonely during young adulthood than at any other time. This fact indicates that loneliness most intensely afflicted young people, even during times in which social media was nonexistent.
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Indeed, it is plausible that loneliness among young people may have less to do with technology than with core aspects of being young.
According to the survey, loneliness is suffered most intensely by young people because young people are not efficiently prepared to deal with their feelings of loneliness. Unlike older people, they lack the experience to realize that feelings of loneliness will pass.
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Although social media may not be the cause of loneliness among young people, it may sometimes exasperate the feelings, because people may feel left out of the social experiences that are being presented by other people on social media.