Surgeon general declares loneliness epidemic, saying it poses risks as deadly as smoking
Source: CBS News
Widespread loneliness in the U.S. poses health risks as deadly as smoking a dozen cigarettes daily, costing the health industry billions of dollars annually, the U.S. surgeon general said Tuesday in declaring the latest public health epidemic. About half of U.S. adults say they've experienced loneliness, Dr. Vivek Murthy said in an 81-page report from his office.
"We now know that loneliness is a common feeling that many people experience. It's like hunger or thirst. It's a feeling the body sends us when something we need for survival is missing," Murthy told The Associated Press in an interview. "Millions of people in America are struggling in the shadows, and that's not right. That's why I issued this advisory to pull back the curtain on a struggle that too many people are experiencing."
The declaration is intended to raise awareness around loneliness but won't unlock federal funding or programming devoted to combatting the issue. Research shows that Americans, who have become less engaged with worship houses, community organizations and even their own family members in recent decades, have steadily reported an increase in feelings of loneliness. The number of single households has also doubled over the last 60 years.
But the crisis deeply worsened when COVID-19 spread, prompting schools and workplaces to shut their doors and sending millions of Americans to isolate at home away from relatives or friends. People culled their friend groups during the coronavirus pandemic and reduced time spent with those friends, the surgeon general's report finds. Americans spent about 20 minutes a day in person with friends in 2020, down from 60 minutes daily nearly two decades earlier.
Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/loneliness-surgeon-general-epidemic-covid/
Link to the site from this Surgeon General priorities - https://www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/priorities/connection/index.html
Link to the 1 page report summary (PDF) - https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/sg-social-connection-general.pdf
Link to the full report (PDF) - https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/surgeon-general-social-connection-advisory.pdf
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bucolic_frolic
(53,908 posts)'Muricans hiding from their pistol-packin' neighbors
Aristus
(71,590 posts)Gunfucks have everyone so spooked, nobody wants to go out in public anymore.
Ilsa
(63,796 posts)I look for "cover".
I check escape routes.
I look at the bodies of people in the room or nearby if outside, wondering if they are carrying.
I then try to erase the stress and hypervigilence I just experienced so I can hopefully enjoy myself.
Rhiannon12866
(249,670 posts)Playing ball in the yard, driving too far from home, doing yard work - just better stay in the house behind locked doors. 
ck4829
(37,401 posts)and going out, getting lost, and then pulling in a driveway to get your bearings can get you shot.
Is it any wonder why people don't socialize?
NullTuples
(6,017 posts)But I feel the need to point out that the exact opposite is true for introverts. The stresses that result for extroverts being too isolated are very similar to what we go through when we are forced to be too social. We are happiest being allowed to regulate our own amounts of social stimulus.
Depending on the study, only 50-75 percent of Americans are extroverts. That means anywhere from a quarter to half...are not extroverts. And also, it's a spectrum. To treat american culture as a monolith is a mistake.
Yet because of the culture we live in, everyone is expected to be as social as any extrovert. It's built into the fabric of our modern society, as relative isolation sells less product & consumes less services, results in different networks of connections, and let's face it, the underlying message for the last 100 years has been one of promoting conformity to fit in with the majority.
I'm not saying the SG's message was wrong; the dangers to extroverts are very real. I only ask that he recognize that perhaps - as a very social person himself - he could recognize that his message does not fit everyone and could in fact cause harm to a substantial portion of people.
utopian
(1,121 posts)We had an all staff at work where programs were asked to do skits/presentations, etc. I had to go to bat for my introverted staff who would rather eat glass than perform in front of hundreds of people. I made pretty much the same points and did the presentation by myself (also an introvert, but able to transcend it when necessary).
LisaM
(29,474 posts)I freeze in front of a group, too, and I don't think that should ever be forced on anyone.
But loneliness and introversion are not the same thing. Loneliness is not just about being physically around people. It's about feeling that no one relates to you and that it's hopeless to even try to start the day because there's no point. It's the invisibility older people feel, and a general thought that you're useless. I frequently struggle with this.
slightlv
(7,430 posts)I am one of those on the spectrum of social introversion/extroversion. In fact, one of my old bosses once called me one of the most extroverted introverted people he knew! It's weird. I don't particularly like people, but I don't have issues meeting new people, even striking up conversations with people I don't know, if I see a common opening. As a really short person, that often gives me an opening. Like yesterday, in the grocery store. I had no issue asking a very tall man who looked about my age and also looked not only kind but also like he was also a lonely type if he would reach something I wanted on a top shelf. It led to about a 15 minute conversation. Not much... but it really did make a difference in my day. Hopefully his, too. I learned his wife has Alzheimer's and he's the sole cook and caretaker in his family. That's a hard road to hoe. I left him, I hope, a little happier if not stronger, to face his day.
It's small things we can do for each other that makes a difference. My best friend and I have planned a Cinco de Mayo party (a very small one... close friends and a few family) for a few weeks. We've had so much fun planning it because we see so few people throughout the week... just each other, really, as we walk my dog. But we both have fibromyalgia, so we have to be careful to do that on a schedule that doesn't kick off flares in us. Flares put me in bed or in the bathroom... her flares kick off seizures in her. We're both Pagans... and yesterday, my daughter choose Beltane to drop by and tell me she won't be coming to the party. She lives within 4 blocks of me and I rarely see her. She's either out with this boyfriend or another one, or partying somewhere herself or doing some concert within a five state region. This time she's running one of kids to another state to meet up with a friend so he can go to another state for a weekend stay, and, although she's got the day off, she's doing it late in the afternoon. I can't help it. It just demolished me that she'd arranged everything so that "Mom" came last.
I fight loneliness, especially since I wasn't really ready to retire when I was forced out of my job because of my disability. I'm still feeling my way through retirement. Hopefully I'll figure it out before I die! (LOL) But the article really hits home. And your reply, Lisa, really hits the mark! Thank you!
BWdem4life
(2,926 posts)
bhikkhu
(10,789 posts)I still remember many years ago, when on any given day I was just so sick and tired of so many people all I ever wanted to do was go off and live in the woods by myself.
Around '95 I finally got the chance, quit my job and money in the bank, packed everything up and settled things, strapped on a backpack and headed down the Pacific Crest Trail from Snoqualmie Falls. I didn't have anywhere I needed to be, just figured I'd go out and think about things. I spent nine days on the trail and it was late-season so in that time I only saw two other souls. By the time I got to Mount Rainier I was done, physically and mentally. I remember waiting for the bus there, there was a couple of other people and we talked like we'd been best friends forever, it was just so nice having someone to talk to. Too many people too often and you forget that you really like people.
NullTuples
(6,017 posts)elocs
(24,486 posts)and I embrace being alone but I never feel lonely. I can do the social sprint but have no interest in the social marathon. I am friendly and can easily talk with anyone, but I have no friends. Not everybody is the same.
Basic LA
(2,047 posts)Introversion is not a malady to be cured. It's why I can't live in a retirement home. These communities are for extroverts only. Introverts are pounced on as needing to join the group.
malthaussen
(18,379 posts)... or sends them into therapy, where they will be "cured" of introversion.
I suppose it would be in bad taste to compare this to the way LBTQetc behavior is viewed by those who fall on another part of the behavioral bell-curve.
-- Mal
elocs
(24,486 posts)being forced to live in a nursing home would be hell for me and at age 70 that is a real fear. Having lived a very independent life, frankly I'd rather just be dead.
Basic LA
(2,047 posts)But now looking it up, it might well describe me too.
elocs
(24,486 posts)because they can make it into a caricature of what it really is. It is a spectrum "disorder" meaning it can severely impact the lives of some & not so much others. There is thought of dropping it from the DSM as being simply a variation of normal whatever "normal" may be.
I am a "secret" schizoid meaning that even if you knew what schizoid was you would not suspect me of being one. Most schizoids never seek help because unless it's severely affecting their lives they just think it's who they are.
The bottom line of being schizoid is that they are not people persons, prefer their own company and are content with that.
Polybius
(21,435 posts)A person can’t go anywhere without his or her dog following them, even to the bathroom in the middle of the night. I much prefer cats.
IronLionZion
(50,783 posts)and some religions require a person to be part of a family or community of some sort so they're not alone.
NullTuples
(6,017 posts)"Can" kill them is very much the operative word. They are prey animals that live in herds in the wild, but in a calm, safe environment they can survive alone, although it's not ideal for most individuals. One exception though would be long term bonded pairs (usually two females); it was not at all unusual when one passed away for the other to start behaviorally shutting down as if depressed, and eventually to appear to give up and stop eating and drinking (I'm trying to be careful with my wording since we don't actually know what their emotional state was or if it was the cause. For a human though, the description would be accurate).
We also had the occasional guinea pigs that very much preferred to stay alone. Nearly always males, but not always. Even they liked to be able to hear and smell other 'pigs, though - much like human introverts who get enough social stimulus by being online or the occasional trip to the store or to socialize with similar people, I imagine.
Warpy
(114,374 posts)Parks used to have things for kids and benches for adults. Can't have the swings and monkey bars, some kid might chip a tooth and the city will get sued. Can't have benches because some homeless guy might sleep on one. Parks are now places nobody goes because the only people there are the black market drug trade. Good job, assholes.
There is no street food here, kitchen regulations got too strict. That means there is no street life here.
We've all been shoved into our houses and cars. Most of us don't go to bars, too much alcohol fueled bad behavior. What's left? Churches? Not for everybody.
Public life is pretty much dead thanks to over regulation, fear of lawsuits, and stupid laws against human behavior.
And they wonder why so many people are lonely.
Duh.
malthaussen
(18,379 posts)... and the audience is regulated so they don't have unsanctioned fun. Oh, and where a hot dog costs ten bucks.
The desire for control and money has squeezed the life out of many popular activities. Oh, there's still enough money out there that the entertainment providers rake it in anyway, but as with many other things, the price of entertainment is better paid by those who have plenty of money.
-- Mal
Warpy
(114,374 posts)is just not the same, even if you can afford it every Friday and Saturday night.
Squeezing the ability of city budgets to maintain public amenities has also been a part of this. Rich men don't want to cough up for anything but their own pleasure and aggrandizement. Hell, you can't even strike up conversations on public transit, the bastards killed that off, too.
malthaussen
(18,379 posts)Of course, I haven't used it for decades. Largely because of unavailability. How do they enforce silence on public transit?
-- Mal
electric_blue68
(25,718 posts)I have quick chats w people on bus or subway if I see they're carrying something interesting to me (book magazine, artwork some cool gadget), or compliment their outfit, jewelry, etc.
Warpy
(114,374 posts)to phase out mass transit and get us all to buy cars and keep them supplied with gas and tires.
I'm old enough to remember trolley cars in even small cities. The tracks were paved over, the cars sold for scrap.
electric_blue68
(25,718 posts)I did rude the trollies in SF. That was fun!
Warpy
(114,374 posts)but over the next 20 years, they kept shutting them down. They extended subway lines, but if there wssn't enough room (and this is Boston we're talking about, laid out by cows and drunken sailors) for a dedicated light rail layout, the tracks just got paved over.
There is a rudimentary bus system here. The only good thing about it is that the buses run on natural gas and don't pour our black, stinky smoke. They're just as miserable as they are everywhere.
BumRushDaShow
(165,409 posts)they often have events sponsored by various organizations (not just for young students but for adults), and even have classes that can be "audited" (attended) for free without needing to pay to earn Credits or CEUs (although that is obviously an option).
Warpy
(114,374 posts)and I want my goddamn park benches back. I want street food, buskers, people of all ages enjoying the warm nights here, in the parks which are supposed to be places for PEOPLE, not just crabgrass and cement.
BumRushDaShow
(165,409 posts)But I agree with your frustration. There was a song about that as you know...
electric_blue68
(25,718 posts)Warpy
(114,374 posts)There used to be streetcars, parks with amenities, even a beach.
MarcA
(2,195 posts)According to what I read that city has problems not unlike many others: reckless driving, crime, vagrancy, lack of or misuse of resources and lack of reasonable laws and policies dealing with abusive human behavior. BTW, one reason people don't use park benches is they have their own portable lawn chairs.
intelpug
(151 posts)It's the same in the workplace now. When I joined the work force in 1983 men usually came to work a little early ostensibly it was to get prepped for the day's work but the other reason was just so they could sit around and bullshit over coffee for awhile. They all carried a thermos of coffee to work since the company did not provide it.The same scene played out at noon and quitting time, On Fridays there often was also a couple cases of beer waiting when the clock hit 5.00 believe it or not this was company provided as a thanks for a good week. Those were the best time's,,having a beer sitting back and listening to the older men talk about the day and hearing some of their life experiences. Some of them were actual WW2 and Korea vet's who hadn't retired yet and would talk about army life, where they had been, and what life had been like during the depression. They talked about things they had seen else where that most of us were just beginning to hear about like wind generation for instance , When that idea started to gain traction one old man remarked that was really nothing new, he said he had seen wind farms 40 years earlier in Holland but instead of fan blades he said they looked like giant vertical drill bits or cork screws that spun with the wind. That was a sawmill in 1983 and I was 19, now i'm 58 working in a mine and am one of those"old men". There is little interest now I have noticed in any socializing at work, coffee is provided, however,, instead of a thermos and an old black metal lunchbox the young people have an energy drink in one hand and an Ipad in the other,,,from start of shift,,during,, when they can get away with it ,,and after until we leave. To Hell with any conversation or getting to know your co workers better, twitter, Itunes facebook and netflix rule the day ,,Something just isn't right about a room full of about 30 people with their noses stuck to a cellphone in total silence and isolation till the buses come to take them home.
Warpy
(114,374 posts)Those damned things are isolating as hell and they don't even realize it, they're too busy scrolling and terrified they'll miss something, not that it will be a subject of conversation, they can't pry anyone else off the phone long enough for that.
One of my favorite worktime storytellers was a lady from Dublin who'd worked in London during the blitz. She talked about sheltering in subway tunnels when the sirens were blaring, said it was quieter down there even with the trains and passengers; When she went home on holiday, she couldn't sleep, Dublin was just too quiet.
Cell phone addicts are going to miss stuff like that, memories from people who lived before they did and what those people did to meet some of the challenges they faced in life.
I still want my damn park benches back.
twodogsbarking
(17,534 posts)Duppers
(28,460 posts)TY
elocs
(24,486 posts)malthaussen
(18,379 posts)I wonder, too, how social media enters into the equation. At this point, the Reaper has seen to it that all my fleshly friends are no longer around, but I have several on social media, with whom I converse daily. But I suppose somebody would point out that that is a merely intellectual association, not a "real" one.
-- Mal
slightlv
(7,430 posts)and I resisted. With help, I finally gave in. And I have found that on those days when I feel loneliness the most acute, and my FB becomes active, it really does help. It isn't a substitute for a hug... but it does help. For the hug, I just ask my hubby if I can crawl up on his lap and get a hug!
eShirl
(20,057 posts)
Rizen
(1,021 posts)I'm on 3 dating sites and it's usually 10 months or more in between going on actual dates. I'm not rude and don't say weird stuff but I get ghosted all the time for saying mundane things like "I really like the Muppet Christmas Carol so I decided to read the book" or "I sidetracked my life a lot to take care of my family including my mom who had cancer". Ghosting people is very rude and cowardly. Women need to at least get to know someone before judging them.
slightlv
(7,430 posts)look at all the Republican women! Look at all the women who vote against abortion rights! I've never understood these women, and I don't think I ever will!
Of course, I've been on the other end of that situation. Ghosted by men. I figure it's for being too weird all my life.
Rizen
(1,021 posts)I'm autistic and get ghosted all the time.
newdayneeded
(2,493 posts)Great job, nice house and toys in the garage, funny, decent looks and body.....yet I get on the dating sites and you'd swear I have leprosy. LOL.
SWBTATTReg
(26,018 posts)radio, etc. all trying to occupy your mind, occupy your social outreaches, etc. (watch us instead!), 24 by 7, constantly! And they make it sound like that if you don't watch/listen to them, you're going to miss the end of the world! Ridiculous. In most cases, all they're trying to do is capture your attention to buy some stupid gadget or such, spend your hard-earned money and/or time.
TV, and other electronic media has come to dominate the American landscape and as a result, IMHO, people have lost the fine art of being 'alone', when you're 'alone' but not really 'alone'.
When you're not really alone, you're actively engaging your mind still, you're engaging in your hobbies, you're being physically active by exercising or any of the many choices available to us all. Just because you don't have a crowd or people around you, doesn't mean one is lonely. Use the opportunity to do those things that you've always wanted to do. Go do something wild for once. Make a list of things for over the next month or so, and then do them, and then reward yourself if you do 10 out of 30 of the things you've listed.
I don't speak as a psych specialist by far, but I do speak as an extremely hard of hearing person, so the world around me for the most part doesn't exist (at least the noise or hubbub of noise doesn't). In such a world as mine (the hearing impaired), one tends to develop or do things within their own world, do things independently. This is just a different perspective of mine on 'being lonely'. Seize the moment and live your life.
sybylla
(8,655 posts)the Surgeon General wouldn't be talking about an epidemic of loneliness.
So many families who have loved ones who are at risk, including older adults, struggle to get together with them (or others), to go out with them anywhere because of a dearth of safe places. Multiple (if you're lucky) covid infections lead to long covid and disability. Now there's a drug-resistant fungal infection hitting Nevada hard. There's more covid on the horizon.
I provide daily care for an at-risk family member. I and my family must continue to maintain a bubble of safety. Some of us have been forced back into work as mask requirements are dropping. That means we draw back further and further into a smaller circle. In some cases, we are forced to mask even in that smaller circle, just to be with our close family.
The NIH and the CDC need to take a hard look at the causes, not just wail about the presence of loneliness.
#TheyDontWantToKnowWhy
#CapitalismUberAlles
angrychair
(11,647 posts)Plus my adult children are around. Really all I need.
Really other then them I don't much like people. I do fine in social situations, 60% of my job is relationship building, but I don't seek social interactions out in my personal time.
Generally speaking people are selfish, ignorant and narcissistic, if not worse.
electric_blue68
(25,718 posts)so I've been comfortable being alone a certain amount for a certain (variable amount of) time. I make art, jewelry, crochet and knit, read, listen to music & public radio. Watch TV.
Otoh I also get energy from being out, and about on the streets of NYC in various areas when it's not crowded. I always have. As long as I can zip around people if I want to go faster I'm good. I still have a pretty good walking pace, though I'm working speeding it up a bit. I partly people watch as I walk about.
I also enjoy slower strolling in parks, gardens, and quieter streets with shops, interesting architecture, little gardens etc
So Covid once it got to comfortable warn early-mid May weather '20, and I was isolating at home it slowly became frustrating. And after 3 damn years? Arrrggg!
Yeah, sure, once I got my vaxxes, and maxxes... I went from staying at home 95% of the time to 85% - 90% of the tine time. At 67 in Spring of '20 - I wasn't taking chances. I mask all the time except on streets with very few people, parks, gardens, and in my apartment. Practice distancing, too.
I might bring my at home time down to ?70% - ?80%. Maybe even ?65%. Although other circumstances (not bad, but different) have reduced my money in general which includes a reduction in carfare $ even with half fare to go where I like to walk.
The incredibly smart thing I did do was after not having a basic cell phone for ?2 yrs (had a land line) just before the original shut down I got a great little smart phone for under 100$.
Before that I was on line through the library since '96 on their computers, and for several years a 24/7 Net Cafe. Then a different one when that one shut down. Then I got my First 🧡 Tablet in '15 or definitely by early '16. I could take that to the library, and access their free WiFi for hours, and hours! At first you could be on longer than an hour at computer if no one signed up for that spot.
Other times I'd go to 2 libraries in a day, a few days a week in the earlier years of Library on line Eventually you could only get an hour if it was reserved for someone else, and the system was connected so you couldn't go to another Library to get another session. So my tablet was a wonderful solution!
I pay for a unlimited talk, text and data plan. It's ended up quite a life saver because I'm on FB with my out of city friends, and acquaintences - some across the country, a very few internationally. Even in city fan & friends.
I have a lot of interest groups even before DU that I
follow, Including sciences, art and craft where I can be inspired and learn new things, refine what I already know, etc
All this at least has (only) sonewhat reduce the loneliness I feel more at times bc of the loss of my street strolling decades. It'd be bad enough bc of mobility issues (it's not) - it's this 🤬🤬🤬 Covid, enough folks who wouldn't mask when they should have! Prolonging the whole damn thing!
Sigh