"I just go in cars and they take me places." That is how Matthew PerryAn American and Canadian actor, best known for playing Chandler Bing in the sitcom Friends. He died aged 54, in October 2023. summed up his life in an interview seven years ago. A world away from how we might imagine celebrity. Certainly a world away from his most famous character, the funny, sarcastic, outgoing Chandler Bing.

But it had long been known that Perry had a darker life than his on-screen persona.

Fame and fortune were not enough to bring him happiness. He often said all he really wanted was to settle down with the right person, but he never found them.

The star's sad fate has stirred something in many of his fans this week. They feel he is a symbol of a very modern problem: chronicA condition which recurs over time, or lasts for several years. loneliness.

Loneliness has been described as an epidemicA widespread disease or infection., capable of causing severe medical problems. It has the same effect on mortalityThings that can die are mortal. as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.¹

And it is hitting the young hardest. Around a quarter of 18-24-year-olds say they feel lonely most of the time and usually have no-one to talk to.²

This has been exacerbated by the cost-of-living crisis. The average student on a maintenance loan has just 50p a week to live on after they have paid their rent.³ So many have had to take on part-time jobs to stay afloat, and so have no time to spend with friends.⁴

Historians say there are many reasons why we are so lonely today. UrbanisationThe increase in the proportion of people living in towns and cities. It is predicted that by 2050 three billion people will live in cities. is one. In the past, most people lived in small communities. But today most people on Earth live in big, anonymous cities.⁵

Another reason is transienceThe state of constantly moving or changing. . The average person in the UK today will move house eight times in their life.⁶ That means they may not stay long enough in any single place to build strong ties with their neighbours.

These things are unlikely to change, say experts. But if we make a positive effort to build our relationships with others, we might be able to create a society without loneliness.

Yes: A cocktail of modern phenomena, from urbanisation to social mobility, has left us isolated from any community. All in all it is the biggest upheaval in human life since the invention of agriculture. No wonder it is causing problems.

No: There is no reason to believe people in the past felt less lonely than we do. We just talk more about it - ironically, because we are all more connected than ever, through social media.

Or... Loneliness might be a product of modernity, but that does not make it inevitable. We can do things to compensate for the effects of our modern lives on our mental health.