The Loneliness
Epidemic
The surgeon general of the United States, Dr. Vivek Murthy, has declared loneliness an epidemic in America. A 2021 study from the Cigna Corporation indicates that loneliness has skyrocketed since the pandemic. Among adults aged 18-24, 79% report feeling lonely, while 41% of seniors aged 66 and older say they are lonely. Across all ages, 57% of men and 59% of women are classified as lonely.
The Physical and Mental Toll of Loneliness
Dr. Vivek Murthy explains that loneliness has enormous health consequences. Loneliness is as deadly as smoking 15 cigarettes a day and more lethal than consuming six alcoholic drinks a day. Loneliness is more dangerous for health than obesity.
When humans are cut off from socialization and friendship, they suffer. Loneliness is physically painful for humans and has far reaching consequences, particularly in terms of our mental health.
Prolonged loneliness can lead to various psychiatric disorders including depression, anxiety, addiction, sleep problems, personality disorders and memory loss.
Lack of Friendship
At the heart of this issue is a lack of friendship. Nearly half of all Americans report having less than three close friends. Among millennials, 27% report having no close friends, while 25% have no “acquaintances” and 22% (1 in 5) have no buddies at all. This problem will only get worse with each successive generation.
There are myriad reasons for this lack of connection, but the combination of transience, hyper-individualism and online communication has created a perfect storm that is tearing apart our social fabric.
At the center of this perfect storm is a collective human regression: People are losing the natural capacity to form in-person community.
Negative Feedback Loop
The net consequence of this regression is a negative feedback loop. In order to mend the current social discord, humans need to be in community, but without the experiential skills to form community, humans become more isolated, resulting in further social deterioration.
Humans function best when we are in close proximity to other humans where we can see and feel each other’s presence. Without this interaction, our mental, emotional and physical health declines.
Research suggests that connecting with people online is no substitute for in-person interaction. Indeed, the connections we form through social media are the mental equivalent of being locked in a solitary confinement cell.
The Solution
ProSocial is the corrective mechanism to this negative feedback loop. We are designing an application that facilitates the creation of in-person community. The goal of this application is to rebuild and restore the social bonds that have been lost.
Ultimately, the ProSocial Platform endeavors to solve one of the most fundamental problems of our time. We all know there are people living within proximity to us with whom we could establish meaningful connections. The problem is finding those people and having the opportunity to get to know them.
The ProSocial Platform solves this problem by providing endless opportunities for experiences with people who are currently out of reach.