Loneliness is a rising issue across the United States. The U.S. Surgeon General warns that Americans are enduring a loneliness epidemic, citing research that social media can elevate feelings of anxiety and isolation.
But a Cleveland content creator aims to help curb anxiety with videos that encourage Northeast Ohioans to get out into their neighborhoods and make friends outside the internet.
Niki Farahmand recently created a social media video at Dewey’s Pizza in Lakewood. Most know her by the username @layof_theland — a play on the Cleveland nickname, The Land — on TikTok and Instagram.
Farahmand makes social media walkthrough videos showing new and interesting locations around Northeast Ohio for people living with social anxiety. She’s developed a fairly large audience, with 57,000 followers and 600,000 likes on TikTok alone.
“I tell people everything they need to know,” Farahmand said. “From parking to how to order, to whether you seat yourself — all the little things that, to most people, they don't really mean a lot, but to some others, they could mean the world.”
Back at Dewey's Pizza, she spent time directing restaurant employees into a shot for her next review. She is extremely methodical, working off a script to get the exact shots and details she needs. This is second nature to her; from graduating college until last year, she worked as a TV producer and journalist.
Before moving to Cleveland, Farahmand lived in cities like Atlanta, Salt Lake City and Richmond. She said she wanted to explore new places but didn’t know where to go or how to make friends. Additionally, Farahmand said she feels uncomfortable in social situations.
“I wanted to explore, to go out and meet new people and see new things,” Farahmand said. “But there’s always that crippling fear of looking like I don’t belong.”
Farahmand lives with social anxiety disorder. She describes herself as an anxious extrovert — she enjoys visiting new places and connecting with new people, but she has anxiety that sometimes forces her to miss out on opportunities. Farahmand said her anxiety even affects her ability to make content for her page.
“My friends joke that, ‘You make videos for people with social anxiety, but making those videos gives you social anxiety.’ And they're not wrong,” Farahmand said with a laugh. “However, the more videos I make, the more comfortable I become and the more I learn and realize that the anxiety is all in my head.”
Growing social anxiety among young people
Farahmand’s experiences with anxiety sound like a common experience to many adults today. Around 7% of all U.S. adults have lived with social anxiety disorder within the past year, according to the National Institute of Health. Research from Temple University shows that social anxiety is the third-most common mental health disorder, and symptoms begin showing in adolescence for 90% of cases.
One major culprit? Isolation. Americans today are lonelier than ever, with 20% of U.S. adults reporting feeling lonely throughout the day, according to a 2024 Gallup poll.
Dr. Adam Borland, a clinical psychologist with Cleveland Clinic, said that he’s seeing a rise in social anxiety, especially in his younger patients. Loneliness not only impacts the ability to foster relationships with others but can also have some strong physical and mental effects, he said.
“Social anxiety can lead to major depression, heightened anxiety and stress,” Borland said. “From a physical standpoint, it can increase hypertension and cardiovascular issues that can create sleep difficulties, and it may lead to increased substance usage.”
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy warned about a growing loneliness epidemic in a 2023 report. Murthy wrote that loneliness can be associated with an increased risk of dementia, stroke, depression and even death.
What’s the solution? Both Murthy and Borland agreed that developing relationships and building community are the most important things to reduce feelings of loneliness. The best way to develop relationships is to try new experiences with a trusted group, Borland said.
“Find a shared activity, go out and watch a game together, or go catch a movie,” Borland said. “There are a lot of opportunities that I think we can each engage in, but it requires a plan. And it requires action that may require taking a step outside your comfort zone.”
Combating the loneliness crisis with community
While Farahmand isn’t responsible for the loneliness crisis, she feels that her videos are helping people explore Northeast Ohio and find community. She said she takes pride in the fact that she’s helping herself and others deal with their social anxiety and find new and interesting businesses in the process.
“The feeling of not belonging can be isolating,” Farahmand said. “But sometimes, the fix to that is having the knowledge that maybe you didn't before. I'd like to think that Lay of the Land is combating the loneliness crisis in that way by showing people what they just didn't know existed before.”
That’s why Farahmand uses the same medium that can increase anxiety by turning it into an invitation to form deeper relationships and discover Cleveland's neighborhoods.
Rachel Freenock is a senior vice president at KeyBank and a self-proclaimed "scroller." She moved to Cleveland Heights in May 2022 and was looking for new places in the area to visit. However, her self-diagnosed social anxiety would often hold her back from new experiences and making new friends.
“I get very overwhelmed and I just won't do it. I will have all of these great ideas. I'll have all these things saved that I want to check out and then I'll get a day off and I'll end up staying at home because it just seems like too much effort to try to figure it out by myself," she explained.
She found Lay of the Land in June 2023 and decided to take a chance. She said the tips and directions from the videos have even helped with her career by inspiring her to attend leadership conferences and networking events. She even went to the dentist for the first time in nearly six years, thanks to one of Farahmand’s videos. Freenock said now she wants to invest in herself more.
“I acknowledged myself that, hey, this is going to be a little bit scary, but also knowing that many feel the same way, and I can kind of go to them and introduce myself and remove that barrier because it allows us all to live a more full life," Freenock said.
Back at Dewey’s Pizza, Farahmand wrapped up her interviews with staff members and confirmed some clarifying details needed to tell her story. The only thing left on the agenda was lunch — and she seemed completely at ease. Maybe the old saying is true — you teach best what you most need to learn.
