Essay:
The Lonely StateWhy is California obsessed with loneliness?

The research is in: California is a hub for loneliness, or rather loneliness studies. In addition to leading the nation in the production of almonds, artichokes, citrus fruits and health clubs, California is leading the world in the search to figure out how we all got so lonely. In 1978, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, created the UCLA Loneliness Scale, a pioneering work that has become the gold standard for research in the field. Major studies in loneliness have been conducted at schools up and down the state, from UC Berkeley (is loneliness triggered by lousy sleep?) to UC San Diego (are mean people lonelier than compassionate ones?). 

It’s important work. According to UCLA’s Letitia Anne Peplau, chronic loneliness has been associated with a greater risk of substance abuse, suicide attempts and depression. Researchers at UC San Diego showed that loneliness was also linked to increased risks for a host of major physical conditions, including high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke. Last year, justifiably alarmed by studies showing increased levels of loneliness among its citizens, Silicon Valley’s San Mateo County (home to Meta, Visa and YouTube) became the first county in the US to declare loneliness a public health emergency, calling for yet more studies on ways to fight the “epidemic of loneliness and isolation.”

“For proponents of wellness, it’s no use being physically well if you are simultaneously feeling isolated and blue."