Healing Loneliness

By: Katelyn Young

"We need not to be let alone. We need to be really bothered once in a while.”

— Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

As you can imagine, being in 8th grade is full of its annoyances— those loud kids at lunch, the boring teacher that drones on and on and overcrowded hallways I had to navigate just to get to class on time. Then in March of that school year, school abruptly moved online due to the pandemic. All of a sudden those things that bothered me I now began to long for. I found myself missing the routines that gave my life meaning and especially times spent with friends. In lieu of in-person hangouts I stayed up late, sometimes all night, texting friends. Restless nights turned into weeks of exhaustion. No matter how much I texted with friends, I became lonely and depressed. Sadly I am not alone in this.

In 2023, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy reported that America was facing an “epidemic of loneliness”. A Cigna study in 2020 also termed Gen Z, my generation, ‘the loneliest generation.’  And yet we live in a strange paradox: more connected than ever online, yet often more disconnected in real life. Phones and endless digital spaces cannot replace the deep need for presence.To be lonely is not simply to feel empty—it is to be cut off from the connections that make us human. 

Ray Bradbury seemed to understand this truth decades ago. His stories warned of the dangers of distraction but also pointed toward healing—especially the healing that comes through connection. As someone who has suffered from loneliness, it has been easy to shut out loved ones in the midst of pain. Five years later I have now embraced this hard truth: 

It’s better to be bothered than to be lonely.

For me, healing began when I let people in—when I admitted I needed help and accepted the care being offered. That turning point showed me that connection, not isolation, is what restores us and reminds us that we are not alone.

Who could you reach out to this week as a step to not feeling alone?

What practices or communities have helped you to feel connected and supported?