Stage 1 · Lesson 1 of 6
You are not the only one
Loneliness can feel like proof that something is wrong with you. It is not. In 2025 the World Health Organization's Commission on Social Connection reported that about one in six people worldwide is affected by loneliness, and that young people aged 13 to 29 report it most.
Students who move to a hostel, a new city or another country are especially likely to feel it, because their old support is suddenly far away. Think of loneliness as a signal, like hunger: it tells you that you need more connection, not that you are unlikeable. And like hunger, it can be answered.
Common traphiding it, because everyone else seems surrounded by friends online. Many of them feel the same.
A question to check yourself and an AI practice session come when you add the roadmap to your account. Add it
Resources for this stage
Start with· follow one of these
- BookPaidTogether: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World (Vivek H. Murthy)
Vivek H. Murthy (Harper Wave) · Paid book
The US Surgeon General on why loneliness is common and how connection is rebuilt
- VideoFreeWhy We All Need to Practice Emotional First Aid (Guy Winch, TEDxLinnaeusUniversity)
Guy Winch (TEDxLinnaeusUniversity)
A short talk on treating loneliness and rejection as injuries you can tend
Keep handy
Struggling right now? If you are in danger or thinking about harming yourself, contact local emergency services or a crisis line: Find a helpline (any country), Umang (Pakistan), Tele-MANAS, 14416 (India).