ABSTRACT
If loneliness is not merely an individual and psychological but a social problem as well, then it is not enough to ask the lonely to be social with others or send a friend to those who have been found very lonely. To win the battle against loneliness, both the lonely and the non-lonely must take action to remove the individual as well as the social sources of loneliness. A list of actions is suggested for different groups of people who could make a significant contribution to the mission of ending loneliness, starting with the lonely children, their non-lonely siblings, their parents, and extending to the lonely older people, the immigrants, and those struggling with financial constraints, and to the health professionals, charities, and government agents. For the lonely, two key actions are proposed: to take any action that could bring you to natural contacts with others, and to learn how to turn aloneness into solitude, that is, to enjoy being alone at least for some time. For the non-lonely, please be aware of the consequences of loneliness and thus do everything you can to help the lonely, regardless of whether you know them personally or not. For the professional and government agents, two tasks are the most important: to identify the most vulnerable to loneliness, and to reduce the effects of societal level risk factors for loneliness that researchers so far have discovered.
