Lauren Dempsey, MS in Biomedicine and Law, RN, FISM News 

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Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy raised the alarm in a new advisory report about the “devastating impact of the epidemic of loneliness and isolation,” calling for a national strategy to improve social connection and to address this crisis facing Americans.

Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, almost half of American adults reported feeling lonely, and these numbers are continuing to rise post-pandemic. Millions of Americans are struggling with feelings of isolation and loneliness.

These feelings can have a profound effect on the body, increasing the risk of heart disease, dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety, and premature death. The mortality associated with being socially disconnected is equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day and is greater than the risks associated with obesity or a sedentary lifestyle, although the report did not specify how many people actually die from loneliness-related issues.

Young people, aged 15 to 24, have been most affected by this epidemic, reporting a 70% drop in time spent with friends over the last two decades. The number of close friendships has also declined, with 49% of Americans reporting having three or fewer close friends. Throughout the pandemic, there was a 16% decrease in network size.

The percentage of Americans living alone has also increased. In 1960, single-person households accounted for only 13% of all U.S. households, but by 2022, that number had more than doubled to represent 29% of all households.

THE NOT-SO-SOCIAL MEDIA EFFECT

The report identifies multiple contributing factors to social connectedness such as individual personality, race, gender, life stage, socioeconomic status, community and societal norms and values, and public policies. Although, the report points to evidence that shows social media has dramatically changed the way we socialize with other people.

Americans spend an average of six hours a day on digital media. One-in-three U.S. adults 18 and over report that they are online “almost constantly,” and the number of adolescents that report being online “almost constantly” has doubled since 2015.

The percentage of U.S. adults 18 and over who reported using social media increased from just 5% in 2005 to almost 80% in 2019. Among teens, 95% report using social media as of 2022, with more than half reporting it would be hard to give up social media.

Loneliness and isolation can be equally as damaging to society as it directly impacts “performance, productivity, and engagement” and is impacted by “cultural, community, and societal dynamics that drive connection and disconnection.”

HHS RECOMMENDATIONS

The 81-page Health and Human Services report lays out a framework to address this epidemic by providing recommendations to improve individual and social well-being to the government, health care system, insurance companies, public health departments, research institutions, schools, workplaces, community-based organizations, technology companies, and the media.

Murthy identifies six recommendations to advance social connection which include strengthening the social infrastructure in local communities, implementing public policy that supports connection, including the healthcare sector, reforming digital environments, deepening our knowledge through research, funding, and increased public awareness, and cultivating a culture of connection.

This report confirms what other research has found about social isolation and the effects of loneliness on physical and mental health.

A Harvard study found that 36% of all Americans feel serious loneliness, including 61% of young adults and 51% of mothers with young children. Richard Weissbourd, lead author of the report called these numbers “heartbreaking,” adding that “We need to mobilize coherently and strategically to assure that far fewer Americans are stranded and disconnected.”

Murthy advises people to answer that phone call from a friend, share a meal, put down the phones, or perform an act of service as a way to encourage human connection and “help us live healthier, more productive, and more fulfilled lives.”

Editor’s Biblical Analysis

This morning, I got a jarring reminder of just how bad I am at following Christ’s commands.

As my wife and I headed to take our youngest to preschool, we saw multiple sheriff’s vehicles and police tape blocking off an entire block of a street right next to ours. My wife quickly messaged our friend who lives across from the end of that street to ask what was going on.

“4 a.m. shooting. They have him in custody.”

That’s all the info we have right now. Police are still there as I write this. At a house within a 3-minute walk from my house, someone shot another person in the early hours of this morning.

I was quickly reminded of the words of Christ when he was asked what the most important commandments are:

Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” – Mark 12:29-31

Have I loved my neighbors as I love myself? Certainly, the people who live on this street just around the corner are my neighbors, but I don’t even know them. I can’t tell you the name of a single person who lives on that block, much less anything about them. And now it appears that at least one of them may have been murdered and another will likely spend the rest of his or her life in jail.

As this report shows us, we live in a nation full of lonely people. In a country where so many people claim to be followers of Christ, this is simply unacceptable. If believers are obeying Christ’s commands, we should not have lonely neighbors. At the very least, they should each have a neighbor who actively shows them love on a regular basis.

For many suffering from loneliness, that bit of love from a Christian friend could mean the difference between life and death. The love of Christ and the hope of the Gospel which we can share means the difference between eternity in hell or eternal life in the presence and love of God.

So let us all take this report as a reminder and a call to action, believers, to obey the two most important commandments. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. Check in on them. Show love through acts of kindness. Sacrifice your own comfort, money, time, and effort for the sake of showing Christ’s love to others. Start with your next-door neighbors.

If we all do this, we’ll see a chain reaction and revival that squashes loneliness and despair like never before in this nation.