It’s Time to Confront Our Loneliness Epidemic - Horowitz

It’s Time to Confront Our Loneliness Epidemic - Horowitz

A new health advisory issued by US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy details the mounting costs of our pervasive epidemic of “loneliness and isolation” and offers a blueprint for rebuilding the social connections and community cohesion that are essential to solving this growing problem.

 

Over the past several years, “about one-in-two adults in America reported experiencing loneliness,” wrote the surgeon general. In fact, nearly 6-in-10 Americans rated as lonely when measured on a scale of indicators developed by UCLA, according to a post-pandemic survey conducted by Morning Consult for Cigna, a large insurance company which has been at the forefront of examining the issue of loneliness and its impacts.

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The surgeon general defines loneliness as “the subjective distressing experience that results from perceived isolation or inadequate meaningful connections.”  It is a strong sense of isolation and disconnection as one’s predominant experience, not the occasional longing for more connections and human contact, that we all feel from time-to-time.

 

The impact of loneliness on mortality is about the same as smoking 15 cigarettes a day and “even greater than that associated with obesity and physical inactivity,” according to the surgeon general. Loneliness heightens our vulnerability to both infectious and chronic illnesses as well as harms our mental health.  It also impacts the over-all health of our communities: generally speaking, the more widespread the feeling of isolation and absence of social connection, the worse the outcomes in terms of school performance, crime, civic engagement and other components of quality of life and community vibrancy.

 

Several long-term trends continue to drive the explosion of loneliness. These include a lower marriage rate and a at least somewhat related higher share of people living alone. Nearly 3-in-10 Americans now live alone, more than double the share that did so in 1960, noted the comprehensive report that buttresses the surgeon general’s warning.  Among other trends that contribute to the problem are a marked decline in participation in organized religion and in civic organizations, reduced social trust, overuse of social media, and the absence of so-called third places--the community-based restaurants, bars, gyms, parks and playgrounds that facilitate social contacts--from too many neighborhoods. 

 

People make and keep far fewer friends now than they did in the past.  In 2021, for instance, nearly half of Americans said they had three or fewer friends, while in 1990, only 27% indicated having that small a number, according to the report.

 

Vivek Murthy proposes an ambitious 6 pillar national strategy to curb loneliness by rebuilding our connections to one another: 1)  strengthen social infrastructure in local communities; 2) enact pro-connection public policies; 3) mobilize the health sector; 4) reform the digital sector; 5) deepen our knowledge; and 6) build a culture of connection.

 

This problem wasn’t created overnight, and it will take a sustained, concerted effort over time to make a significant dent in it.   But as the surgeon general wrote, “Each of us can start now, in our own lives, by strengthening our connections and relationships. Our individual relationships are an untapped resource—a source of healing hiding in plain sight.”

 

Building stronger existing relationships and initiating new ones will not only enrich our own lives.  Taken together, all of our individual efforts can begin to reduce overall loneliness and lift up our communities, reminding us of our common humanity.