The Loneliness Epidemic Isn’t Just Modern. One Novel Proved It Decades Ago.
Back in the day, loneliness was not an epidemic. It was a way of life. Now, we are lonelier than ever, but do we already have the cure?
College students are lonely. They rely on the found families they might make when they come to university. This loneliness is not new. History sets the precedent for estrangement from one’s parents, but it does not in all modern cases have to be permanent. While online discourse calls today’s strain of loneliness an epidemic, it is not endemic to our modern moment.
Estrangement today is not as unavoidable as it was back in the 1800s, but is still highly pervasive. However, the conversation around isolation and estrangement has shifted. It is considered to be something forced upon people rather than something they choose, but this is the first time ever that loneliness might be optional due to an increased ability to reach out to estranged loved ones. Is the loneliness felt by college age students today merely a virus spread by profligate technology, or is it something rooted in a deeper and more complicated history?
