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Loneliness is not just a feeling. It’s a public health issue, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said Wednesday in Seattle.
Murthy declared loneliness and isolation a national epidemic in May 2023, releasing an 81-page report outlining the problem and potential solutions. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, about half of American adults reported experiencing loneliness.
Isolation has significant effects on physical health: It increases the risk of heart disease by 29 percent, the risk of stroke by 32 percent and the risk of dementia by 50 percent, according to the surgeon general’s office. Lack of social connection increases the risk of premature death by more than 60%, the equivalent of smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
“As a member of an office that for generations has focused on issues like tobacco and obesity, it made me realize that this issue of loneliness is a public health problem,” he said. Murthy said.
Murthy joined Washington State Health Secretary Umair Shah for a discussion on social connections and loneliness, part of a state health department speaker series. Here are five key points from the conversation.
1. Modern society has evolved to make us less connected to each other.
For thousands of years, humans lived as hunters and gatherers who formed small groups with people they trusted, Murthy said. They shared food, took care of the children together and made sure everyone was safe.
“We learned to live together and recognized that when we are connected to each other in relationships of trust, we actually do better. We have a much greater chance of survival,” he said.
All of these elements do not yet exist in our current society, he said. More and more people feel disconnected from community or don’t feel like they are a meaningful part of others’ lives.
“We have become, in the grand scheme of human existence, quite alone and isolated, despite the fact that we live in more densely populated parts of the world and despite the fact that we are connected through our devices and technology,” Murthy said.
2. Different types of relationships play different roles when it comes to connection.
Three different types of relationships are important in human relationships, Murthy said: intimate relationships like a spouse or best friend; relational ties such as close friends and extended family members; and collective connections like the people with whom we share a workplace or organization.
After Murthy’s first term as surgeon general from 2014 to 2017, he wrote a keynote address examining his loneliness, even though his wife had been “his rock” during that time.
“I found myself in a place where I was lucky enough to have these intimate connections, but I had completely lost my friendships and my sense of community,” he said. “If you don’t understand this, you might think that if your loved one is lonely it’s your fault, or it’s an indictment of your marriage, for example, but that’s not the case at all. case.”
3. Collective social bonding has benefits that go beyond health.
We need to rebuild these collective bonds into a modern social infrastructure, Murthy said.
Today, fewer people participate in community organizations like houses of worship, recreational sports leagues or service groups. People are moving from place to place more often. And while technology has created “extraordinary conveniences,” it has replaced some personal interactions.
Loneliness and isolation have detrimental effects on health, but on the other hand, community and relationships are natural buffers against stress, Murthy said. Communities that are more connected to each other generally have higher levels of economic prosperity, lower levels of violence, and greater resilience in the face of adversity or natural disasters.
“Whether you care about health, education, the economy or issues like division and polarization in society, it turns out that all of these topics are influenced by social connections,” said Murthy.
4. Social media has contributed to a particular crisis of isolation among young people.
Murthy issued an advisory on youth mental health in 2021, writing that “the challenges facing today’s generation of young people are unprecedented and uniquely difficult to overcome.”
Social networks contribute to this “major crisis”, he declared on Wednesday. Teenagers spend an average of 4.8 hours a day on social media, and he’s concerned that time is replacing healthy activities like in-person relationships, physical activity and sleep.
Murthy’s 2023 advisory on loneliness and isolation called for data transparency from tech companies and national security standards for social media platforms, such as stricter age restrictions for youth.
“What worries me is that we have lost control of social media and we have virtually no effective safeguards in place right now, in terms of the technology itself, or in terms of policy and regulation,” Murthy said. “For me, this is morally unacceptable.”
5. We all have the power to improve social connections.
Murthy said he feels more optimistic than before becoming surgeon general, even though he has faced more challenges. We can all contribute to social bonds at the community and individual level.
“While we need good policies and programs in place, health and well-being are fundamentally linked to how each of us shows up in our families and communities,” Murthy said.
Calling a friend to check in, checking on your child’s classmate, stopping by a colleague’s office: these little moments help us stay connected to each other and combat isolation.
“This is how we have evolved over thousands of years,” Murthy said. “If we can rebuild that connection with each other, if we can call upon the compassion and generosity and love that are our birthright and our nature, I have no doubt that we can help each other. »