Millions of Americans traded their commutes for kitchen tables and may have unknowingly traded their mental health along with them.
A sweeping 13-year study of U.S. workers found that those who can do their jobs remotely are spending more time completely alone, reporting higher rates of psychological distress, and seeking mental health treatment at greater rates than their office-bound peers.
“Although a large body of research finds that workers want to work remotely,” the study authors wrote, “our findings suggest that workers may not realize the costs of remote work for their well-being, which may take time to accumulate.”
The findings, published in the journal Science, analyzed data from five large nationally representative surveys of 588,000 American workers conducted between 2011 and 2024—notably excluding the peak COVID-19 pandemic years of 2020 and 2021. This suggests the effects observed are not simply a COVID-19-era anomaly but part of a longer structural shift.
Isolation Is Taking a Toll
Researchers compared the psychological state of workers in occupations that can be done remotely, which they called “remotable” jobs, such as software engineering and marketing, with that of workers in jobs that require physical presence (“nonremotable”), such as nursing and mechanical engineering.
Those in remotable jobs experienced roughly double the increase in psychological distress compared to nonremotable job workers.
Workers in remotable jobs spent about one extra hour alone during each workday after the pandemic began, socialized less after hours, and reported more days spent in complete isolation.
The likelihood of going an entire day without face-to-face contact rose to 83 percent for that group—a 7-percentage-point increase.
“This isolation is particularly potent given the evidence that even the briefest of social interactions can improve mental well-being, often more so than people expect,” the study authors wrote.
“People who tend to isolate naturally, due to introversion, anxiety, or personality style, may find remote work comforting,” Dr. Alex Dimitriu, double board-certified in psychiatry and sleep medicine and founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine, told The Epoch Times. “But it may not be the best thing for them.”
Those same workers reported greater feelings of worthlessness, hopelessness, nervousness, and sadness, and were more likely to seek mental health services and prescriptions for anxiety or depression. The researchers estimate that remote work accounts for about one-third of the overall increase in mental health issues observed since before the pandemic.
The Workers Most Likely to Struggle
Sanam Hafeez, a neuropsychologist and director of Comprehend the Mind in New York, identified four groups she considers most vulnerable:
- People who live alone or have limited social support
- Younger employees and those early in their careers who lack mentorship and workplace relationships
- People with anxiety, depression, or a strong need for social interaction
- People who struggle to set boundaries between work and personal life
“They already don’t socialize much,” Hafeez, who was not involved in the study, told The Epoch Times. “So it could be helpful to physically have to go into work. That way, they can be surrounded by others and have a chance to make friends.”
Beyond increasing isolation, remote work can make it harder to maintain boundaries by removing the physical and visual walls that naturally separate your job from your personal life. When your office is your home, the lines between “on the clock” and “off the clock” can easily disappear.
This blurs the boundaries between work and personal life, making it difficult for your brain to switch out of work mode. The absence of a commute buffer also contributes to this challenge, as the travel time that once helped you decompress and transition between roles is no longer part of your routine.
Additionally, the constant visibility of work-related materials—such as your laptop or files—during your free time keeps your mind tethered to your job, preventing true mental separation.
Practical Steps for Remote Workers
For those working remotely, there are practical steps you can take to minimize the potential toll on your psychological health.
Dimitriu recommends leaving your home and socializing at least once or twice per week, and drawing firm lines between work time and personal time.
“Get out of the house and have clean breaks between relaxing and working,” he said, noting that blurred boundaries were a defining feature of pandemic-era home working—people simultaneously on calls, doing chores, and never fully present in either mode. “Always feeling guilty that they have not done either of those well.”
The answer, Dimitriu said, is to set boundaries between work and home life to limit intrusions into our free time. This involves avoiding distractions while working and getting exercise outdoors between work and personal time.
Setting boundaries and taking time to relax can help lower stress hormones, prevent burnout, and give you the energy to connect with others.
“Boundaries and some discipline can make work from home manageable.”