Is Ohio suffering from a loneliness epidemic? Why Amy Acton, doctors say they're concerned

When it comes to health, lonely Ohioans may suffer as much as someone who smokes 15 cigarettes a day and perhaps even more than those who struggle with obesity.

Making matters worse is that likely one out of every two people are experiencing severe loneliness at any time, Dr. Amy Acton, former director of the Ohio Department of Health, said during a Columbus Metropolitan Club discussion on loneliness Wednesday.

The health impact of loneliness, first detailed in a 2023 study by the office of U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, has fueled comparisons to smoking and other critical health issues since the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered businesses, schools and gathering places for more than year.

But, Acton and other doctors told the metropolitan club that "Ohio's loneliness epidemic" likely predates COVID. The pandemic just exacerbated it.

"One of the things we know from the pandemic is there has never been something that has so untethered us... Nobody has gone through this unscathed," Acton said.

The surgeon general's report found that issues of loneliness may actually be worst among children and teenagers.

Around 44% of high school students have reported feeling persistently sad and hopeless and on average it takes about 11 years for a child struggling with his or her mental health to obtain treatment, Murthy said during a visit to Columbus last year.

In the emergency department, Dr. Megan Schabbing, medical director of psychiatric emergency services for OhioHealth, said that she often sees teenagers who are feeling hopeless and stuck. Making sure children and teens have somebody who is kind to them, whether it be a friend, family member or someone like a pastor is important, Schabbing said.

"Often times there is nobody that they feel who cares about them," Schabbing said. "We really see every single day...the importance of having social support of having somebody who cares, of having somebody who will make you feel like you matter."

While often people who feel lonely may initially respond by seeking people out, chronic loneliness can have the opposite effect, said both Acton and Dr. Whitney Raglin Bignall, associate clinical director of the On Our Sleeves mental health program at Nationwide Children's Hospital.

Read More: PBS documentary featuring Amy Acton, Ohio during COVID to premiere tonight

People who feel lonely for a long amount of time, Bignall said, tend to feel other people may not want them around.

That results in people experiencing long-term loneliness pushing others away. And by that point, loneliness has likely already started to take hold on someone's health, Bignall said.

"Usually when we know, it's already too late because it's already resulted in a health issue," Bignall said.

Technology, Bignall said, has been a big driver of loneliness throughout the last several years. While technology helped Ohioans connect with each other during the pandemic, it can also isolate people who are in the same room with each other.

Many times, Bignall said people are missing out on deeper connections because they're glued to their phones when they're with others.

Despite all the things that can cause loneliness, Acton said there is one thing that can always be harnessed to treat it — kindness.

"Kindness is not weakness. It is not a fluffy concept... There's an antidote and that is connection, compassion and care for one another," Acton said.

mfilby@dispatch.com

@MaxFilby

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Doctors weigh in on possible loneliness epidemic in Ohio