The U.S. is battling an “epidemic of loneliness that affects both our emotional well-being and our physical health,” the U.S. Surgeon General has warned.
Dr. Vivek Murthy, who previously declared loneliness a public health crisis, has spoken out about “growing isolation” and “the stigma attached to loneliness.”
He told Newsweek: “Loneliness is not merely the absence of company; it’s a profound, invisible epidemic that affects both our emotional well-being and our physical health. As a society, we must recognize that the strength of our social connections is just as important as diet and exercise. Building meaningful connections is not a luxury — it’s a necessity for our survival.”
Some 30 percent of adults said they experienced feelings of loneliness at least once a week in the year leading up to early 2024, according to January’s Healthy Minds Monthly Poll from the American Psychiatric Association (APA).
Meanwhile, 10 percent of the 2,200 adults questioned between January 10 and 12 by Morning Consult, said they were lonely every day.
Loneliness was defined to them as “feeling like you do not have meaningful or close relationships or a sense of belonging.”
Indeed, the average time spent alone has increased from 285 minutes a day (142.5 hours a month) in 2003 to 333 minutes a day (166.5 hours a month), Dr. Murthy said in his report Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation last year.
Likewise, the amount of time people engaged with friends socially and, in-person, declined from 60 minutes a day (30 hours a month) in 2003 to 20 minutes a day (10 hours a month).
“In today’s hyper-connected world, we face a paradox: we are more connected than ever before through technology, yet many of us feel deeply alone,” Dr. Murthy said, “Loneliness doesn’t discriminate; it touches people of all ages, from young people to seniors.”
He went on: “The stigma attached to loneliness often prevents individuals from seeking help, leaving them isolated. We must destigmatize loneliness and create spaces where people can share their struggles openly.
“Combating loneliness requires not just individual action, but also a collective responsibility. It’s a public health issue that demands the same level of attention as any other epidemic.”
“In the face of growing isolation, our sense of community is more important than ever,” Dr. Murthy added before stressing: “The epidemic of loneliness is not just about feeling sad or disconnected; it is about the fundamental human need for social connection.”
Dr. Vivek Murthy, after he was nominated by President Joe Biden to serve U.S. Surgeon General, speaking at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Delaware, in December 2020. Dr. Murthy has spoken out against loneliness in the U.S.
AP
His comments to Newsweek come ahead of a webinar dialogue between Dr. Murthy and Yogi and spiritual leader Sadhguru at Harvard Medical School, in Boston, on Saturday.
“Having both Sadhguru and the US surgeon general speaking about this global phenomenon will represent a cross-cultural dialogue, between Western medicine and Eastern spirituality,” event promoters said.
Sadhguru is the founder of the Isha Foundation, which is “dedicated to raising human consciousness” to “foster global harmony through individual transformation.”
He told Newsweek: “Loneliness is the incubation period for mental illnesses. Feeling lonely in a pretty crowded world is a symptom of a psychological situation brewing where large segments of the population could be approaching mental illness at pandemic levels.
“There are many ways to understand and treat mental illnesses, but the fundamental is that, for whatever reason, our intelligence has turned against us. It is time we harness the profound sciences of yoga to ensure our intelligence functions for our wellbeing rather than against.”
Indeed, Dr. Murthy’s 2023 report says social isolation and loneliness “predict increased risk for developing depression and anxiety.”
But, “importantly, social connection also seems to protect against depression even in people with a higher probability of developing in the condition.”
There are also impacts on people’s physical health, the report says, so much so that lacking social connection “is associated with a significantly increased risk of early death from all cases,” the 2020 Consensus Study Report, from the National Academies of Science Engineering and Medicine, concluded.
Dr. Murthy believes in “Six Pillars to Advance Social Connection, which are: Strengthening social infrastructure in local communities, looking to encourage connection in public policies, training healthcare providers, reforming digital environments, developing a national research agenda and building a culture of connection by “model(ing) connection values in positions of leadership and influence.
He said in a letter published with this report: “Given the profound consequences of loneliness and isolation, we have an opportunity, and an obligation, to make the same investments in addressing social connection that we have made in addressing tobacco use, obesity, and the addiction crisis.”
“If we fail to do so, we will pay an ever-increasing price in the form of our individual and collective health and well-being,” he added, “And we will continue to splinter and divide until we can no longer stand as a community or a country.”
