Ireland, famous for its friendliness, is showing a striking social shift, with increased feelings of loneliness and worsening social support among our youngest adults. While COVID may have influenced this trend, the first OECD report on social connection shows that daily face-to-face interactions have been falling consistently since 2006 while remote contact has increased. In Ireland, CSO figures show that in 2024, 5.6 per cent of 16- to 24-year-olds said they felt lonely “most or all of the time”. This is approximately 80 per cent higher than those aged 65+ (3.1 per cent). In a country built on conversation, it is our youngest adults who now feel the most disconnected – a reversal that carries profound implications for brain health.
Connection nurtures and nourishes the brain. Social interaction activates reward, memory and emotion networks, promoting neuroplasticity – the brain’s ability to form and strengthen connections which is fundamental to brain health. Every conversation, shared meal or laugh with a friend gives the brain a workout, engaging multiple systems at once.
When we become isolated, those systems start to weaken.
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