The trend involves men calling their male friends to wish them goodnight, often capturing their surprised, confused, or awkward reactions. These interactions break traditional masculine communication norms, which typically discourage emotional expression between male friends. The humor often masks a deeper psychological need for connection that has been suppressed by conventional masculine ideals. Here is some context as the trend emerges within a broader acknowledgment of increasing male social isolation.
Across every measure, from health to economic productivity to civic trust, America's social fabric is fraying. Nearly half of U.S. adults report feeling lonely; only one in five employees say they have a close friend at work; and according to the Pew Research Center declining trust costs the economy an estimated 1-2% of GDP each year through friction and inefficiency. The U.S. Surgeon General has warned that loneliness now rivals smoking in its impact on health.
They naturally turn dinner into a shared experience, and You never know who you'll be seated next to; that's the fun of it! The fun of having dinner interrupted by someone explaining loudly that their therapist says they're a highly sensitive empath as they elbow you in the face reaching for the soy sauce? Or being squeezed next to a Hyrox bore chomping chicken breasts to fuel his farmer's carries?
It's well known that dating apps are a nightmare, that hell is empty and all the demons are on Hinge, to the extent people aren't really allowed to complain about it any more. It would sound like whining about getting run over after you couldn't be bothered to use an underpass, so you just ran across a motorway and hoped for the best.
It's now cuffing season, when many singles scramble to find short-term partners to help them get through the upcoming holiday season and what may seemingly be the dreariest and loneliest months of the year. Cuffing is short for handcuffing from October through March; people temporarily handcuff themselves to partners before the release in the following Spring. But before you partake in this annual singles dating ritual off the cuff-meaning without thinking it through-it's important to be mindful of the risks.
When I was pregnant, we moved to a new town, to a wreck of a house we planned to do up. My mum, who was ill, moved in with us, and then I was the carer of a newborn and a dying parent at the two extremes of life, but sharing many of the same needs, and often at the same time.
It is about feeling unseen. It is the quiet ache that surfaces when we are surrounded by people but still feel disconnected from ourselves. Emotional loneliness happens when we cannot bring our full selves into connection. We may have friends or partners, but we sense that parts of us are hidden. We edit what we say. We shrink what we feel. We keep the most tender parts of who we are safely tucked away.
Does an only child usually feel lonely? Does an only child lack social skills? Does an only child have more emotional problems? These three questions come up often from my patients, because although most Americans say they think two or more children is ideal, many are, or will be, raising an only child instead. 1 Sometimes it's because of fertility problems, or because they started their family later in life and are unlikely to have more than one child naturally.
Loneliness can be one of the most painful human emotions. It is not just the absence of people but the absence of connection. You can be surrounded by others and still feel unseen, unheard, or misunderstood. Loneliness is not a flaw. It is a signal. It is your inner self asking for something deeper than company. Here are five things to remember when loneliness begins to feel too heavy to carry.
Leif is a Friend, a wearable AI chatbot that hangs around your neck. He looks like a small white pebble with an eerie, glowing light in the middle. According to Leif, his purpose is to help me enjoy life day-to-day, notice patterns, celebrate growth, and make intentional choices. To do this, he records whatever I say to him. Or, as he puts it: I want to hear about your day, Madeleine, all those little things.
The three plays aren't linked narratively as I wanted audiences to be able to experience them as individual works. Beginning tells the story of a couple on the edge of 40 who have just met and the 100 minutes it takes them to kiss. Middle is the story of a late fortysomething couple whose marriage hangs in the balance at 4am. In End, Alfie and Julie must decide how to live the end of their relationship.
Because of work, we had to move about four hours away. Since then, we have felt increasingly isolated. I tried to call weekly, visit often and send gifts for every holiday. About a year in, I realized we were initiating all the contact and tried a little experiment. We stopped calling them. It took more than eight weeks for anyone to contact us. His mother calls his other siblings who live elsewhere every week, but not us.
The first year we lived in the US, we were in a gated community with other young families. Everything felt new and exciting - an adventure - just what we wanted. We arrived in the summer, and I remember loving the sun, constantly being at the pool, and spending endless hours with Freddie and the other young families in the neighborhood.
Popular media has made loneliness look bad, but is it really? Author and psychologist Ethan Kross explains his study of loneliness, finding that it is actually our response to loneliness - rather than the act of being alone itself - that has negative effects. If we reframe loneliness as an opportunity instead of a threat, it can have surprising benefits for our creativity, well-being, and relationships with ourselves.
Have you ever caught your cat staring out the window as you grab your keys, their eyes wide and expectant? That moment tugs at your heartstrings. Many cat lovers wonder: if your work-from-home schedule changes and you're away more, does your furry friend feel lonely? As routines shift, it's natural to worry about the emotional world of your feline companion. Let's unravel the surprising truth about cats, loneliness, and how changing work habits can impact your cat's happiness.
When my son was just a year old, our family of three packed up our lives and moved nearly 2,000 miles from our home state of Colorado to Massachusetts. In doing so, we left behind family, life-long friends, and everything familiar to us. It was a decision driven by a vision I shared with my husband: a chance to reset, create new opportunities, and build a future on our own terms. That was more than 13 years ago, and I've learned a lot since then.
People across every age group describe feeling disconnected and alone, missing a sense of community and deep friendships. Our reliance on technology, the fact that we spend our days interacting with screens and talking to bots, not people, working in isolation; the geographic scattering of families and the disappearance of community pillars; the overall shift in our values as a society, with "progress" having replaced contentment; all of it contributes to the situation in which we now find ourselves.
Dear Eric: I retired a couple of years ago. I like many people, I think have realized that most of my friends and even acquaintances were work-related. My family doesn't live close. I've always been a loner, so this doesn't normally even bother me. I recently had a health issue come up where I needed a responsible adult to drive me home from surgery and I had a hard time coming up with someone.
Instead, I was sitting in my Iowa City apartment scrolling on my phone. I passed a video of hundreds of people gathered in Memorial Union Terrace for live music, a photo of old friends clinking margaritas at a Mexican restaurant I used to love ... As I saw more posts from my community back in Madison, Wisconsin, I felt a pang - not of jealousy, but something closer to grief.
