7 physical symptoms that can be caused by loneliness

Crystal Cox/Business Insider

• Experts say the coronavirus pandemic is leading to a loneliness epidemic with serious health consequences of its own.
• But it's not always easy to identify loneliness in yourself or others, since it's not the same as being alone and can come with a stigma.
• Physical signs of loneliness can include cold and flu symptoms, and difficulty sleeping.

Humans don't just like to be social, we need to be.

In fact, people who have weaker social relationships are 50% more likely to die over a given period than those with more robust connections, according to a 2015 meta-analysis including more than 308,000 people.

Put another way, being lonely seems to be as deadly as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

That's particularly upsetting given that many mental health professionals say the coronavirus pandemic is exacerbating loneliness in the US and could be called an epidemic of its own.

But identifying loneliness in yourself and others isn't always easy: It's not the same as being alone, and can come with shame.

"People are afraid to admit being lonely because of the stigma it carries — they fear being judged or alienated," Babita Spinelli, a New York City-based therapist, told Insider. "This in turn keeps them from overcoming the loneliness or turning to people or resources for help."

Here are 7 physical signs that you or a loved one is lonely.