Surgeon General: addressing the loneliness epidemic

[neverfstop]

I agree that loneliness is a big problem, very inter-related to all the other health issues.

I really like this Surgeon General. He did a great interview with Krista Tibbet of On Being

onbeing.org/programs/vivek-murthy-to-be-a-healer/

We need a modicum of vitality to simply be alive in this time. And we’re in an enduringly tender place. The mental health crisis that is invoked all around, especially as we look to the young, is one manifestation of the gravity of the post-2020 world. How to name and honor this more openly? How to hold that together with the ways we’ve been given to learn and to grow? Who are we called to be moving forward? Dr. Vivek Murthy is a brilliant, wise, and kind companion in these questions. He’s a renowned physician and research scientist in his second tenure as U.S. Surgeon General. And for years, he’s been naming and investigating loneliness as a public health matter, including his own experience of that very human condition.

It is beyond rare to be in the presence of a person holding high governmental office who speaks about love with ease and dignity — and about the agency to be healers that is available to us all. There is so much here to walk away with, and into. This conversation quieted and touched a room full of raucous podcasters at the 2023 On Air Fest in Brooklyn.

[Patsy Baloney]

I appreciated this pillar the most:

“The final pillar urges a culture of connection in which Americans “cultivate values of kindness, respect, service, and commitment to one another.” “

I feel like a lot of people have lost their way on being part of a community. It’s hard to connect when so much of what we experience is hateful. I don’t think our society has valued service for decades.

[waverly]

This is just my experience, but those truly suffering needed additional mental health resources for depression, anxiety, and grief. If they weren't able to get those services, they tended to be less open to socializing and check ins. It was beyond the scope of what a check in could do. It ties into how it is interconnected to other health issues both physical and mental that restrict a person from the social life that they might want, but are not able to have.

@@caregiving too can be a limiting factor for socializing. Can be any relative, parent, grandparent also.

[tiramisu]

May 2, 2023 19:44:18 GMT -5 mpm said:

May 2, 2023 19:07:59 GMT -5 wildrice said:

Gun violence - many mass shooters have been described as loners or people who are struggling socially. Happy, fulfilled people don't often inflict violence on others.

Shrinking life expectancy - loneliness and related health issues can impact life expectancy, including risk of suicide. Specifically mentioned as an outcome in the OP

Heart disease - Specifically mentioned as an outcome of loneliness in the OP

Maternal mortality - I don't want to speculate on this since I've not heard of a direct connection to mental health on this one, though women often feel very isolated after the birth of their child and that can negatively impact their recovery/long term wellness

Racial inequities in health outcomes - can impact mental health/good support can help lessen the impact of racism on a person's wellbeing. 

Diabetes - specifically mentioned as an outcome in the OP

Food insecurity - people struggling with mental health problems have a more difficult time holding a job or working the same number of hours as someone who is healthy, and loss of income is a major source of food insecurity.

Childhood cancer - can be incredibly difficult for families to deal with without social support

Covid - if someone has other risk factors such as those above, they are more likely to get sicker from COVID

Did you not read my next response? That’s the point I was trying to make in it, that I hope we fix many of those other systemic issues rather than trying to treat loneliness as a stand-alone problem. IMO, it’s bigger than that.

And we're all telling you that addressing loneliness is a good way to address many other issues, because loneliness is a key contributor to many of the things you listed.

[curbsideprophet]

Here is the full document

www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/surgeon-general-social-connection-advisory.pdf

I admit I have not read the entire thing. It is an 83 page document and I see one page on Covid (page 22).

My biggest issue with it is it talks as if Covid is over. It seems to think the most isolating part of the pandemic was lockdowns and stay at home orders. It does not mention that some immunocompromised/high risk people are more isolated than ever. That society is more isolated and less safe today than Spring 2020. People are skipping routine healthcare because we can not make it safe. Until we can make it safer for everyone to access the most basic needs of society, connection and loneliness are going to be problems. Instead we are going in the other direction.