Loneliness has long been thought to cause early mortality. Now new research contradicts that

A man alone on a beach wearing a coat, his back to the camera (Credit: Getty Images)

Loneliness was declared a public health epidemic just two years ago, with then-U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy citing links to increased risk of heart disease, depression, cognitive decline, dementia, and early mortality.

But now come findings that could challenge that—specifically, the connection to early mortality, which had come out of a body of research including a 2015 meta-analysis and another from 2018.