Loneliness isn’t just a reality for many. It’s a health crisis for all.

As the global pandemic lingers on and companies make hybrid and remote work more permanent, feelings of loneliness have intensified. An alarming two in five people globally have reported becoming lonelier over a six month period in 2020-21. Even more upsetting, a study found that loneliness and social isolation makes premature death more likely for people of all ages.

Loneliness rivals smoking and obesity as a health risk according to many studies. But that’s only the beginning of the story. How we respond to the effects of loneliness often includes consumption and addiction, pornography and prostitution and depression and suicide. Despite this bleak narrative, the antidote to all of this is community and friendship, something available to all of us, and for free.

Brent Robertson of Fathom will lead a discussion on April 12 at the Fairfield County Bar Association that will reveal the kinds or relationships that allow us to thrive, and how to prioritize them in our lives. The event will open with special remarks from Stamford Mayor Caroline Simmons.