I would not have believed this one if it weren’t coming from the US Surgeon General. Loneliness is officially a public health issue, and not a soft, vague one. A real, measurable health risk.
In a 2023 advisory, the Surgeon General said being socially disconnected raises your risk of early death by an amount similar to smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day. Loneliness, statistically, can be about as dangerous as a serious smoking habit. It’s linked to higher rates of heart disease, stroke, depression, and more. And about half of US adults reported feeling lonely even before the pandemic made it worse.
The part that hit closest to home was about people my age. The advisory found that young people ages 15 to 24 had a 70% drop in time spent hanging out with friends in person over the past couple of decades. In person friend time fell from around 60 minutes a day to about 20. We’re more connected than ever online and somehow spending way less actual time together.
Here’s the way I see it now. Connection is like a daily vitamin. Skip it long enough and your body and mind actually start to suffer.
I’m lucky here, and I know it. I’ve got a twin brother, my friends, my music club, my teammates. Those are built-in communities, real people I see in person. After learning this, I don’t take that for granted. Texting is fine, but showing up matters way more.
Read more: Our Epidemic of Loneliness — U.S. Surgeon General (via NPR)
The Global Pulse 