Home (alone) for Christmas: Louisiana feels impact of epidemic of loneliness

An online survey finds that Christmas will be a lonely time for tens of thousands of Louisiana people.
The survey by A Mission for Michael, a mental health advocacy group, indicates that 56,743 Louisianians will spend Christmas alone this year.
That’s the third-highest number among the states.
Loneliness has quietly become one of America’s most widespread public-health issues: a chronic, grinding isolation that hits people year-round.
But the holiday season magnifies everything. December is saturated with images of togetherness: family dinners, matching pajamas, full houses and overflowing calendars. For anyone spending Christmas alone — whether through distance, estrangement, work schedules or recent life changes — that contrast can feel brutal.
Expectations about how Christmas “should” look turn private solitude into something that feels like failure, leaving many people dreading a day that is meant to feel joyful.
A Mission for Michael surveyed over 3,000 adults who live alone to understand how many expect to spend Christmas 2025 in solitude and why. When extrapolated nationally, the findings suggest that a staggering 14 million Americans will be alone this Christmas. 
Where Christmas
will be quietest
•1. Wisconsin — 45,424 people spending it alone
•2. Tennessee — 56,286 
•3. Louisiana — 56,743 
•4. Minnesota — 72,213
•5. Maryland — 117,768 
The data shows that, when weighted by the number of people who live alone, Louisiana ranks as the third-loneliest state this Christmas.
Why are so many spending it alone?
Respondents shared a wide range of reasons - from the logistical to the deeply emotional: 
•29% live far from family or friends and can’t make the trip
•17% say travel is simply too expensive
•20% are staying away due to family conflict
•11% are tied up with work
•16% say they actually prefer to spend Christmas alone
•7% don’t celebrate Christmas at all
While not everyone feels bad about a solo holiday, a significant portion carry emotional weight into the season: 
•25% say they feel lonely
•22% feel sad
•9% report being overwhelmed
•7% are anxious
•37% are simply indifferent
Some people have proactive plans to make the best of it, while others admit they will just see how it goes: 
•28% will watch holiday movies or TV to feel festive
•19% plan to “treat themselves” with food, gifts, or self-care
•15% will connect virtually with loved ones
•8% will work through the day to stay busy
•5% will volunteer or get involved in their community
•3% are going away on a solo trip
•22% say they have no plan at all 
Perceptions
and fears
•47% believe there’s still a stigma to spending Christmas alone
•27% say Christmas 2025 may be their loneliest yet
•59% agree that Christmas magnifies loneliness more than any other time
•56% believe we are living through a “silent epidemic” of holiday isolation
•38% would skip Christmas entirely if given the option 
When asked what their biggest fear is about spending Christmas alone: 
•16% worry about feeling depressed
•14% fear feeling forgotten
•13% dread having no plans
•11% fear having no one to talk to
•6% feel embarrassed to admit it
•40% say they have no fears about it at all
“We often think of Christmas as a time of joy, but for many people, it becomes a mirror for everything they feel they’re missing," says Anand Meta, executive director of A Mission for Michael.
“Loneliness doesn’t take a holiday, but neither does hope, and the more we normalize these feelings, the easier it becomes to reach out, speak up, or simply take the pressure off a ‘perfect’ Christmas.”
A Mission for Michael was founded by a family that lost a son to mental illness.