According to studies, 14 percent of all Germans feel lonely. The German Ethics Council speaks of a phenomenon that has been far too little investigated.
There is now a consensus among researchers: anyone who wants to understand the state of a democratic society can at least partially gauge it by looking at how many people are permanently burdened by loneliness. If that is the case, then there is a problem in Germany. Because more and more people are feeling lonely. According to a study by the University of Magdeburg from June 2023, around 14 percent of the population currently feels this way.
According to the Patient Protection Foundation, loneliness is the biggest widespread disease in Germany. You can meet anyone and everyone. Board member Eugen Brysch points out that not only older people are affected by this, as is often assumed, but also more and more young people – and not just since then corona. However, the pandemic has exacerbated this trend. During the Corona period in 2021, almost 42 percent of Germans said they felt lonely. Of those under 30, 48 percent felt lonely.
Loneliness can be as stressful as cancer
Janosch Schobin from the Loneliness Competence Network at the Institute for Social Work and Social Pedagogy in Frankfurt am Main compares the psychological burden of loneliness with that that people with cancer can have. He says that research’s view of the topic has changed significantly: “Loneliness is now seen as a fundamental deficiency. It is increasingly being compared to hunger or pain – and is increasingly rarely understood as a purely subjective feeling.”
According to Schobin, neuropsychological research shows that loneliness is processed in similar brain regions as physical pain. And that the physical symptoms of both sensations overlap.
Loneliness affects all ages and people
Schobin says there are already many offers in Germany. The problem, however, is the lack of clarity among the target groups. “For example, if you are not old, work and do not have a mental illness, you can still be very lonely. But then there are no offers for him or her.” It is therefore important to see loneliness as a problem for society as a whole.
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Politicians have recognized the danger. For more than a year, the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs has been developing numerous measures for an awareness campaign to prevent and alleviate loneliness. Bavaria’s Health Minister, Klaus Holetschek (CSU), also launched a prevention focus against loneliness in April.
Loneliness as a disease factor that has been far too little studied
The German Ethics Council confirms that loneliness is a disease factor and a risk of death that has been studied far too little. The chairwoman, Alena Buyx, says that the risk of suicide increases, especially among older men, if they are very lonely. But cardiovascular diseases and mental illnesses also increase with increasing loneliness.
A few days ago, Buyx announced on In an interview with our editorial team, she says that the Ethics Council decided at the last meeting to hold an anniversary on the topic of loneliness. There is no concrete program yet. Buyx says: “There is still a lot to study about loneliness. And we want to use our platform to bring more attention and more voice to this topic. The aim cannot be that we live in a society in which people are becoming increasingly lonely become.”