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This episode is sponsored by Newport Healthcare, providing evidence-based results-driven treatment for teens and young adults ages 12 to 28.

Newport treats clients who are struggling with mental health issues and co-occurring disorders,

which are often triggered or intensified by the high levels of loneliness

young people are experiencing right now.

Newport's outpatient and residential programs around the country

provide supportive, caring environments where adolescents and young adults

can overcome isolation and build community. Learn more at Newport Healthcare.com. Even before the COVID-19

pandemic scrambled our social connections some two years ago, Americans were worried about an epidemic of loneliness.

A pre-pandemic report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

found that more than a third of people over age 45 reported in 2020 being lonely.

One Kaiser Family Foundation poll in 2018 found that two and ten

Americans often or always felt lonely. Researchers know that loneliness can be bad for our

mental and physical health. We humans are social creatures and we need meaningful

connections with other people in our lives. But are we lonelier than ever these days,

or are fears of a loneliness pandemic overblown?

...