Youth loneliness, a global challenge with profound bioethical implications By Bioethics Observatory Published On: February 5th, 2026

https://bioethicsobservatory.org/2026/02/youth-loneliness-a-global-challenge-with-profound-bioethical-implications/48385/?utm_source=mailpoet&utm_medium=email&utm_source_platform=mailpoet Loneliness has become established as a structural and public health problem that hits adolescents particularly hard, a group where the incidence already exceeds that of people over 60. This article analyzes how exacerbated individualism and the weakening of the family institution have paved the way for an isolation that, paradoxically, coexists with digital hyperconnectivity. From a bioethical perspective, the risk of technology and artificial intelligence supplanting real human connections by offering ‘emotional anesthesia’ is examined. This does not resolve the anthropological need for relationships and raises the urgent need to rebuild spaces for authentic coexistence in the face of the threat of normalized loneliness.