When it began some three years ago, few anticipated that the COVID-19 pandemic would kill several million people and injure countless others. Patients suffered with traumatic intensive care unit stays that sometimes left them with scarred lungs and hearts, cognitive issues, failing kidneys and much more. The damage caused by COVID-19—even for those with an ostensibly mild illness — could continue long after recovery from the infection, causing lasting issues like fatigue, brain fog, loss of taste or smell, and chronic pain.
Yet the coronavirus pandemic did not merely wreak havoc upon our physical bodies, but also our mental health. As unemployment, food insecurity and burnout increased, the pandemic fractured relationships and intensified loneliness—which was a prevalent problem pre-pandemic as well. In 2019, 61% of Americans over the age of 18 reported being lonely, as compared to as low as 11% in the 1970s. Loneliness affects people of all ages: around 50% people over the age of 80 experience it, and so do 71% of adolescents and young adults.
