CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The COVID-19 pandemic hit five years ago, but many people are still navigating a problem that surfaced in 2020: loneliness.

Dr. Megan Smith, an assistant teaching professor in the sociology department at UNC Charlotte, teaches, studies and speaks about loneliness. She became interested in the topic when she felt lonely in graduate school. 

“I had a lot of the symptoms of loneliness, feeling anxious, being more critical, being more demanding, being invited to places but not going even though there were no other plans,” Smith said.  

She said if you feel lonely, you're not alone.

“Loneliness is the mismatch between the number of quality relationships one would like to have, versus the ones they feel like they have,” Smith said. “Loneliness is the mismatch between the number of quality relationships one would like to have, versus the ones they feel like they have,” Smith said. 

The COVID-19 pandemic shed light on loneliness because as things slowed down, closed and operated remotely, many people felt isolated.  

“We live in a productivity culture, where people are admired and rewarded for their productivity. But the problem was that it masked the feeling of feeling lonely,” Smith said. “All of [the] sudden, magazines are talking about it, news outlets are talking about it, it’s appearing on social media, and it becomes part of the social discourse,” Smith said. 

A recent poll from the American Psychiatric Association showed that 30% of adults reported feeling lonely at least once a week during the past year and 10% felt lonely every day. The poll showed Gen Z is the group most likely to feel alone. 

Years after the worst of the pandemic, the factors that can contribute to loneliness still exist.

“More people want to work remote, which means that they don’t have the opportunity to engage in conversations with people they work with,” Smith said. “People stopped attending as many events, so a huge decline in civic activities, attendance at religious services, and those are areas where people develop relationships,” she said.

If you’re feeling lonely, what should you do?

Smith says to start small. Speak to others around you, try to be present, talk to your doctor, put your phone down when you’re having a conversation, join an organization, find people with similar interests, and volunteer, Smith suggests.