We are all wired for human connection — and not through a screen. We have an innate need to see, hear, and touch other humans. Never has this been easier than on a college campus, where we get to experience that wonderful stage of life of coming into our own and figuring out who we are through our close relationships. That is, until now. In our fast-paced, media-saturated, and post-pandemic world, our very natural, hard-wired need for human intimacy and relational reciprocity has been dangerously affected. So much so that Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has declared loneliness to be an epidemic in the United States, right up there with obesity and smoking as a leading cause of death. Murthy then set out on his “Made to Connect” campus tour to spread his message of the importance of social connection (Alonso, 2023).

Among the loneliest Americans are our young Gen Z college students. A survey of approximately 1,100 U.S. college and university students has shown that almost two-thirds (64.7%) reported feeling lonely. It was also found that college students who reported feeling lonely were over four times more likely to experience severe psychological distress. More specifically, 28.4 percent of students reported feeling isolated from their peers, 23.1 percent reported feelings of being left out, and 21 percent of students reported lacking companionship (Active Minds). As we are aware of the close connection between loneliness, depression, and suicide, these results demand both our attention and a call to action.

Loneliness is complex and is often mistaken for social isolation. Therefore, a good place to begin the conversation is to differentiate between the two. Modern research says that social isolation refers to minimal or a........

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