The Loneliness Epidemic: Insights From the 2025 APA Annual Meeting

CONFERENCE REPORTER

"The loneliness epidemic is not new," shared Badr Ratnakaran, MBBS.

In 2017, Vivek Murthy, the then-US Surgeon General, declared loneliness a public health "epidemic." In 2023, the World Health Organization recognized it as a global health problem.

Ratnakaran, sat down with Psychiatric Times to discuss the loneliness epidemic at the 2025 American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting.

Loneliness exacerbates multiple levels of issues such as increasing stress; exacerbating depression and anxiety; and elevating risk of diabetes, blood pressure problems, strokes, heart attacks. Overall, it decreases quality of life.

"We as psychiatrists don't often address this as a problem," said Ratnakaran. "It is a big factor in people's diseases and lives. Addressing it will help a lot of the quality of life outcomes and health outcomes. It is very necessary, not only as psychiatrists, but also as physicians."

Dr Ratnakaran is an assistant professor and geriatric psychiatrist at Carilion Clinic-Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. He also serves as the medical director of CONNECT, 24-hour emergency evaluation and referral service of Carilion Clinic.