2023-05-02 18:28:07
- Catherine Armstrong
- BBC News
Almost half of Americans are thought to have been affected by loneliness at some point in their lives
A senior US health official has warned that the country is facing an “epidemic” of loneliness, which he said is as dangerous as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
And the surgeon general, Vivek Murthy, issued health advice calling for dealing with social isolation as seriously as dealing with problems such as obesity or drug abuse.
He cautions that he believes nearly half of Americans have been affected by loneliness at some point in their lives.
Murthy also unveiled a national framework for rebuilding social contact.
The report notes that loneliness increases the risk of premature death by nearly 30%, from health problems such as diabetes, heart attacks, insomnia and dementia.
A lack of social contact is also linked to lower academic achievement and poorer performance at work, according to the advice.
The problem has been exacerbated by the Covid pandemic, which has led many people to downsize their social circles.
One of the studies cited in the report found an average 16% decrease in participants’ social network size from June 2019 to June 2020.
In order to address this, Moorthy called for a collective effort to “repair the social fabric of our nation” with the goal of “removing the stigma of loneliness and changing our cultural and political response to it”.
Its strategy has six pillars, which include efforts to strengthen the social infrastructure within communities, in part through public health systems.
The advisory calls for more “pro-connectivity public policies” developed with the help of a research agenda to help address gaps in the data surrounding the effects of social isolation.
It also highlights the need for more transparency in tech companies’ data and for reforming digital environments.
White House press secretary Karen Jean-Pierre said Monday that the health advice is “part of the broader effort by the Biden administration to address mental health issues.”
May is Mental Health Awareness Month in the United States.
While the announcement aims to raise awareness regarding the issue, no new promises of federal funding have yet been made to deal with the issue.
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