Defining social connection, loneliness and social isolation

30 June 2025
 | graphics (infographic)
Social connection – 'how we relate to and interact with others', loneliness – 'hurts and happens when your relationships do not match what you want or need', and social isolation – 'having very few relationships or not seeing people often enough'.
WHO Team
Demographic Change and Healthy Ageing (DHA), Maternal, Newborn, Child & Adolescent Health & Ageing (MCA), Mental Health, Brain Health and Substance Use (MSD), Social Determinants of Health (SDH), WHO Commission on Social Connection