Survey results of who suffers from loneliness might surprise you

When it comes to those struggling with loneliness, it’s not who you think it would be.

A new survey suggests that young adults are struggling with loneliness much more than senior citizens.

Cigna conducted the survey of 20,000.

Behavioral health specialist Lisa Mycanka from Mayo Health System in La Crosse says the culture has changed.

“More and more we aren’t really connected with who is in our community, who are our neighbors,” she said. “One of the main questions that kind of came out was, ‘Do you have somebody to turn to if you need help?’

“And that’s where your community comes in.”

Mycanka sees the results as particularly troubling because of other mental health issues young adults have.

“People might already have those kind of factors into their lives.THey may have entered into adulthood already struggling with depression or anxiety,” she said. “And then, yes, that loneliness is going to create an additional layer. That’s going to create a barrier moving forward.”

Generation Z and Millennials had the highest score on the survey and some said social media played a role.

The study also found that loneliness has the same impact on mortality as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.