Globally, teenage loneliness has sparked great attention in recent years. A 2020 report revealed that, in a survey of 10,000 US adults, younger generations showed higher rates of loneliness than preceding generations, with the youngest bracket—Gen Z—disclosing that eight in ten (79%) of them suffered from feelings of loneliness, even prior to the pandemic.
In 2025, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed this staggering impact, detailing that teen loneliness can result in 22% lower performance at school. Further, the WHO affirmed that loneliness is not a transient feeling—it can impact teens’ physical, mental, and academic wellbeing long-term.
Considering that, in the U.S., 2 out of 3 children experience trauma by the age of 16, which can impact brain connectivity, structure, and function into adulthood; 49.5% of teens have received a mental health diagnosis; and only 58.5% of teens can access the social-emotional supports they need, there is an urgency to the exploration of strategies that can relieve teens’ sense of isolation, particularly because loneliness can precede further mental health burdens.
Researchers have long revealed the power of writing—particularly “expressive writing,” which utilizes emotion words—to support mental and physical wellness. But there is much debate over the role of technology in driving and/or aiding increasing rates of distress. Given that Write the World is a community that strives to leverage both technology and writing to connect and support young people worldwide, I interviewed Dr. Dan Siegel to learn more.
Dr. Siegel is a renowned psychiatrist, author, executive director of the Mindsight Institute, and founding co-director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA. Below, he shares his take on how teenagers, teachers, and technology can come together to counteract rising rates of loneliness and promote self-expression. Dr. Siegel, who wrote Brainstorm: The Power and Purpose of the Teenage Brain (along with 15 other books), has extensive knowledge of adolescent development, positioning him well to share insights relevant to the Write the World community.
BRITTANY COLLINS: What, in your view, are the most urgent contributing factors to teenage loneliness in our current time?
DAN SIEGEL: In our current cultural climate, teenage loneliness is being shaped by a number of deeply interconnected factors. Adolescence is a time when the brain is naturally wired for increased social engagement and exploration—seeking connection, identity, and belonging outside the family. Yet, paradoxically, we’re seeing a rise in disconnection. “Social Media” ironically has been shown to often make us less connected, not more. Having time to be face-to-face, though challenged by the viral COVID-19 pandemic, is still the best way to literally feel resonance with another person—the basis for connection and belonging.
This urgent contributor of the breakdown of genuine, face-to-face relational experiences needs to be addressed in our modern technology-shaped lives. Our fast-paced, achievement-oriented society often undervalues the time and space needed for the deep interpersonal presence that fosters a sense of connection and being seen as an authentic individual, as a “Me,” while also becoming a part of a “We.” Add to this the social pressures teens face—often curated and amplified through digital platforms—and it becomes increasingly difficult for them to feel truly seen and known. This is the basis for the isolation of a profoundly social being, the human being, in the important transitional time of adolescence.
It is also crucial to acknowledge broader systemic issues: from rising academic and economic pressures to societal fragmentation and even global uncertainty, many adolescents are carrying an unseen burden that can make authentic connection harder to sustain and hope difficult to achieve. All of this adds up to a lived experience of isolation and despair at a time when the need for connection is neurologically and developmentally paramount. We are social and anticipatory beings needing to sense a future we can live into with connection and belonging.
COLLINS: Much media addresses the potential harms of technology on youth wellbeing, but are there benefits? Might technology provide an antidote to teen loneliness?
SIEGEL: Technology, like any tool, is not inherently good or bad—it’s how we use it. Whether it promotes integration is what matters most.
Yes, there are certainly potential harms—especially when technology replaces in-person interaction, disrupts sleep, or fosters social comparison instead of social belonging. But it’s also important to recognize the profound potential of digital platforms to connect, inspire, and support.
When used intentionally, with mindfulness and compassion, technology can serve as a bridge rather than a barrier. For some teens, especially those who may feel marginalized or unseen in their immediate environments, online spaces can sometimes offer community, creative expression, and a sense of connecting. It’s not about vilifying technology, but rather about guiding youth to use it in ways that promote meaning, presence, and authentic relationship. Unfortunately, the lure of the addictive foundations of how technology was initially built can push experiences to be compelling but disconnecting.
In this sense, technology can be both a symptom and a potential solution to loneliness—it depends on how we engage with it, and how we support adolescents in cultivating mindful and meaningful digital lives. Integration is the honoring of differences while promoting meaningful and compassionate linkages. The larger question is, does technology, as it is structured and used, promote the compassion and kindness that are integration made visible?
COLLINS: What advice do you have for teenagers facing the loneliness crisis? How about for the teachers who work with and support them?
SIEGEL:
Your brain is wired to seek belonging, and it’s okay to reach out for these important kinds of strength-promoting practices and resources in your life. Sometimes that might mean connecting with one trusted person, engaging in creative expression, reading a book on this subject, or simply practicing inner compassion. Developing your ESSENCE is how you come to feel whole in life. Wholeness begins when we honor our inner experience and allow ourselves to be seen—not as who we think we should be, but as who we truly are.
Emotional
Spark
Social
Engagement
Novelty-seeking
Creative
Exploration
To create environments where teens feel safe, respected, and valued for who they are, approach them from this [place of] emotional spark, social engagement, novelty-seeking, and creative exploration fundamental to the adolescent journey and to our lives as adults. And remember that connection—real, respectful, resonant connection in face-to-face times of engagement—is one of the most powerful tools we have for healing loneliness and nurturing resilience.
Together, we can break through the isolation and come to realize that we are all in this journey of life together, no matter our age. We are a “me” in these bodies we live in; and who we are is also our relationships with each other, and with all of nature. We can remember the integration of this Me and this We as the funny but useful, simple term of an integrated identity: Me plus We equals MWe.
MWe can make this world a more connecting place of belonging no matter our age!
About Dr. Dan Siegel
Dr. Dan Siegel is the Founder and Director of Education of the Mindsight Institute and founding co-director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA, where he was also Co-Principal Investigator of the Center for Culture, Brain and Development and Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the School of Medicine.
An award-winning educator, Dan is the author of five New York Times bestsellers and over fifteen other books which have been translated into over forty languages. As the founding editor of the Norton Professional Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology (“IPNB”), Dan has overseen the publication of one hundred books in the transdisciplinary IPNB framework which focuses on the mind and mental health.
A graduate of Harvard Medical School, Dan completed his postgraduate training at UCLA specializing in pediatrics, and adult, adolescent, and child psychiatry. He was trained in attachment research and narrative analysis through a National Institute of Mental Health research training fellowship focusing on how relationships shape our autobiographical ways of making sense of our lives and influence our development across the lifespan.
Learn more about Dr. Siegel at: drdansiegel.com and mindsigh9ns9tute.com