Surgeon General of the United States Dr. Vivek Murthy recently announced that loneliness has become an “epidemic” and a new threat to public health in the country. Approximately half of all American adults reported experiencing loneliness, and the health risks associated with loneliness are equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes daily. Murthy calls for action to address this health crisis and emphasizes that face-to-face human interaction cannot be replaced.
On May 3, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released an 81-page report (pdf) documenting the extent of the problem. Lack of social connection and loneliness increase the risk of premature death by 60 percent while also increasing the risk of heart disease by 29 percent, stroke by 32 percent, and dementia by 50 percent among older adults.
Loneliness refers to the quality and quantity discrepancy between the social relationships that a person desires and what they actually have, while social isolation refers to a lack of connections within a social network or community. Individuals who experience loneliness and social isolation may suffer from more psychological stress and have a less healthy lifestyle than socially active individuals.
According to a 2015 meta-analytic review published in Perspectives on Psychological Science, the impact of loneliness and social isolation on mortality risk is comparable with well-established risk factors for mortality.
In a 2010 study published in PLoS Medicine, researchers analyzed 148 studies involving 308,849 participants with an average follow-up time of 7.5 years. The results showed that individuals with stronger social relationships have a 50 percent higher likelihood of survival than those with poor or insufficient social relationships. This impact is comparable to quitting smoking and surpasses many well-known risk factors for mortality, such as obesity and physical inactivity.
Another 2020 study published in The Journals of Gerontology: Series B indicated that loneliness is a significant risk factor for all-cause dementia, especially Alzheimer’s disease.
Loneliness and Social Isolation Epidemic Is an Overlooked Public Health Crisis: Expert
“Our loneliness and social isolation epidemic has been an underappreciated public health crisis that harms individual and societal health. Given the significant impact of loneliness and isolation on health, we must prioritize building social connections, just as we prioritize addressing other critical public health issues such as obesity, tobacco, and substance-use disorders,” said Murthy.In 2018, market research company Ipsos conducted an online survey on behalf of Cigna, which involved 20,096 American adults aged 18 and over. The results showed that 46 percent of respondents reported sometimes or always feeling alone, 47 percent felt left out, 54 percent sometimes or always felt as though no one knew them well, 43 percent felt that their relationships were not meaningful, and 43 percent felt isolated.
Face-to-Face Interaction Is Irreplaceable for Social Connections
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report, Americans have become increasingly less involved in religious groups, labor unions, community organizations, and similar groups in recent decades.A survey conducted by the U.S. polling organization Pew Research Center showed that there has been a slight decline in the percentage of people who say they believe in God, pray daily, and regularly attend church or other religious services. Additionally, data collected by the Do Good Institute at the University of Maryland indicated decreased volunteerism rates in the United States.
According to U.S. Census Bureau’s 2021 data, there were 37 million single-person households in the United States, accounting for 28 percent of all households, compared to only 13 percent in 1960. Furthermore, the percentage of adults living with their spouse has decreased from 52 to 50 percent over the past decade.
A study published in the SSM-Population Health in 2023 indicated that from 2003 to 2020, Americans spent an average of five fewer hours per month with family and 20 fewer hours per month engaging in social activities with friends, while their alone time increased by an average of 24 hours per month.
The study also found that the loneliness epidemic had the greatest impact on young people aged 15 to 24, whose social engagement declined sharply from 2003 to 2019. Adolescence and young adulthood are sensitive periods for socializing with nonfamily members, which means the current generation of young Americans is experiencing a significant loss in socialization experiences. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report, young people aged 15 to 24 have seen a 70 percent decrease in time spent with friends over the past 20 years.
The report recommended several solutions to address the loneliness epidemic, such as participating in community service, putting away phones when spending time with friends, and other measures. In addition, the report suggested that employers should carefully consider their remote work policies and that the health care system should provide formal training for medical professionals.
According to a 2017 study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, individuals who spend more than two hours per day on social media were twice as likely to experience perceived social isolation as those who used it for less than 30 minutes daily.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Murthy stated that social media mainly drives the rise in loneliness and that there is no substitute for in-person interaction. “As we shifted to use technology more and more for our communication, we lost out on a lot of that in-person interaction. How do we design technology that strengthens our relationships as opposed to weaken them,” he said.
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