Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Brigham Young University who studies loneliness and its health impact, says, “Some research shows that introverts are at greater risk for isolation and loneliness. Loneliness is the discrepancy between one's actual and desired level of connection. That desired level may differ, but any discrepancy is still going to result in loneliness.”

But loneliness proved to be more omnipresent for freelance journalist, Sara Radin, since she started working for herself in the spring of 2018. “It took a lot of time to understand the lifestyle of a freelancer and how to maintain my wellbeing and creativity,” says Radin, 30, who writes about culture and mental health, and her experience with anxiety and depression.

Soon after going freelance, she joined The Wing, a women-focused co-working space and social club. Having previously worked as an editor in an office, Radin says being part of that community—and meeting other freelancers who’ve experienced the same highs and lows—has helped her feel less alone. “It was scary to invest money in belonging to a space so early on,” Radin says, “but just having somewhere to go and interact with people—from ordering coffee to running into someone in the bathroom line—and being around other people doing inspiring things [has] inspired me in my own work.”

Holt-Lunstad’s and other research points to the increased health risks of social isolation and loneliness across generations, like inflammation, heart disease (and even premature mortality), as well as the protective effect of social connection. By simply being around other people, Prevost says, “All these good neurochemicals are released. We are a tribal, social species.”

For Arshia Mufti, 23, a remote infrastructure software engineer at Stripe, the distance between herself and her coworkers exacerbates her loneliness. Mufti, who’s originally from Kashmir, works from Toronto, Canada even though her team is based over 2,000 miles way in Seattle. She says the process for getting a U.S. work visa would have likely presented challenges, and she prefers to live in Canada, where family is also nearby. “It’s a professional loneliness because it’s just me in my city from my team,” she says.

Mufti rents a coworking space, but sometimes there’s no substitute for the loneliness—say if she’s having trouble with code or if her team goes for lunch. “Sometimes you just need someone physically around you to be like, here's how you fix this,” she says.

With her manager’s help, though, Mufti has introduced norms from another remote team she worked on—like scheduling video chats with her coworkers to talk about things other than work and having morning Slack check-ins. These small changes plus informal gestures, like her team sending her pastries for Thanksgiving, have helped to make her feel more connected. “It's been an exercise in building empathy and talking about my experience,” Mufti says.

Prevost encourages remote workers to invest in existing personal relationships and find community, do inner work to identify their values and strengths, and then welcome risky experimentation. And yet, cautions Prevost, the antidote isn’t always just to go be with people. “You're not always in control of your day, and that’s really loud when you're by yourself in your house,” Prevost says. “It's like: what choice do I have right now? Do I need to talk to somebody? Do I need to do something physically for myself? There are other needs that might be bubbling up.”

Ultimately, remedies for loneliness will look different from one remote worker to the next (I’m still figuring it out, embracing the feelings, and facing them head-on as they come). And whether it’s joining a professional network, a co-working space, or connecting with other remote workers to brainstorm ideas, Holt-Lunstad says there’s evidence that suggests having a diversity of relationships and social roles is good for our health and can also fulfill many of our different needs and goals. “You might have to be the one to initiate, and that can be hard,” Holt-Lunstad says. “But it also has the potential to be incredibly rewarding and benefit others in your same situation.”