1 in 3 admit to feeling lonely, data show

People in the United States are lonely, so lonely that experts are calling it a "public health epidemic".

The number of people aged 45 and older who admitted to feeling lonely was 1 in 3, according to data from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine published about four years ago.

A more recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics stated that loneliness gets worse if a person lives alone and has little to no social support or contact with others. The study, Living Alone and Feelings of Depression Among Adults Age 18 and Older, was released in February.