Why Do So Many of Us Feel Lonely?
The Surgeon General warns that there's a loneliness epidemic. Why do so many of us feel lonely and how can we reconnect with one another again?
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FILE - A man crosses the street in a nearly empty Times Square, devoid of the usual weekday morning crowds, March 23, 2020, in New York. In May 2023, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy declared loneliness an American epidemic. While solitude and isolation do not automatically equal loneliness, Murthy’s report found, people tightened their groups of friends and cut time spent with them during the pandemic. According to the report, Americans spent 20 minutes a day with friends in 2020 — down from an hour daily two decades ago. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has been warning Americans that loneliness is a public health crisis. One in two Americans say they’re lonely, and the impact on wellbeing can be as damaging as smoking or obesity. It’s correlated with cardiovascular disease, depression, dementia and premature death. Why do so many of us feel lonely and how can we connect with each other again?
Our guests are Julianne Holt-Lunstad, professor of psychology at Brigham Young University who was the lead scientific editor on the U.S. Surgeon General’s advisory on loneliness, and Eric Klinenberg, professor of sociology at New York University and author of Palaces for the People and Going Solo.
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