While everyone is going on about how being single is the new relationship status to be in, let's look at one very startling fact. Experts have now warned that being single and therefore, lonely and without a romantic partner can actually increase a lot of health risks, leading to eventual death. 

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According to a review based on approximately 218 studies on loneliness and social isolation, it was found that those with bad social connections were found to be 50 times more likely to die earlier than those with good social connections. Social isolation is said to increase a person's health risk by half, when compared to issues, like obesity which is found to raise one's death risk by 30 per cent. 

It is no secret that humans crave connection because it is what our body needs, biologically, as well. A need to belong with someone, to be connected in some way that enhances communication and relationships is also proven to be good for mental as well as physical wellbeing. 

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According to Dr. Julianne Holt-Lunstad, lead author and professor of psychology at Brigham Young University, “Being connected to others socially is widely considered a fundamental human need, crucial to both well-being and survival.” She further cites examples that show infants in custodial care who lack human contact fail to thrive and often die, and indeed, social isolation or solitary confinement has been used as a form of punishment. Given the findings of these and many more such studies, what's rather unfortunate that, in a day and age when social media is said to have connected people from the remotest parts of the world and dating apps have made it easier to meet people with whom we may have a connect, we are increasingly lonelier than ever. 

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Holt Lunstad goes on to say, “There is robust evidence that social isolation and loneliness significantly increase risk for premature mortality, and the magnitude of the risk exceeds that of many leading health indicators. With an increasing aging population, the effect on public health is only anticipated to increase.” 

She reaffirms something that we know to be a loneliness epidemic, adding that the real challenge we face in the present scenario is what can be done about it. 

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For one, maybe we can stop hiding under titles like extroverted introverts, social media savvy who only mingle online and not offline; we can even limit the use of dating apps and online gaming portals where the only human connection we come close to having is an image of the user on another side of the world. Going out and mixing with people, befriending a pleasant stranger at a friendly café and being open to meeting new people, sans the judgments and preconceived notions are only some steps that we can take for ourselves. 

Aside from that, we should stop living in denial; believing—quite falsely so—that we're better off single and alone. We really aren't and it's not helping you. We weren't meant to be living in this world alone and desolate. We were meant to mix, mingle, connect and procreate. Not stay aloof and die alone.