Loneliness has reached epidemic levels in the United States, with half the population feeling socially disconnected at all times. U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, MD, made a recommendation On Loneliness and “The Healing Effects of Social Connection and Community” on May 2.
Depression and suicide are also on the rise.
“Mental health is the public health crisis that defines our time,” Mercy said during an onstage interview with Oprah Winfrey at UCLA’s Royce Hall on May 4. said.
The two discussed loneliness, mental health, and what makes life meaningful at WOW 2023, UCLA Health’s annual mental health summit. Guests included Oscar- and Grammy-winning musician John Baptiste, author and Harvard Business School Dr. Arthur C. Brooks, and three UCLA students sharing their personal experiences on mental health challenges shared. Actress Lisa Kudrow hosted the event.
Inspiring programs, fundraising UCLA Semer Neuroscience Institute and Human Behavior Institute and the Resnik Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Honored philanthropists Andrea and Peter Roth, who recently donated $1 million to support autism research and interventions. It was also announced that a grant to the early faculty of Resnik Neuropsychiatric Hospital would be named in Winfrey’s honor.
Loneliness is as harmful to human health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, Dr. Murthy said. Humans evolved as hunter-gatherers and lived in tribes. We are wired to connect with each other and feel safest when we are together.
Separation caused stress because humans were less likely to survive on their own during the hunter-gatherer era. Loneliness still puts stress on the human system today, and chronic loneliness causes chronic stress, increases levels of inflammation, damages tissues and blood vessels, and increases the risk of physical diseases such as heart disease. .
“Our situation today is very different than it was in the hunter-gatherer days, but our brains and nervous systems are very similar to what they were back then,” said Dr Murthy. “That is why we are witnessing the effects of loneliness and disconnection on physical and mental illness. It is necessary and should be treated as such.”
He said he learned this the hard way.
During his first term as a surgeon (appointed by President Obama in 2017), Dr. Murthy said he threw himself into work and stopped contacting family and friends. When he was dismissed from his position a year and a half ahead of schedule, Dr. Murthy lost his work colleagues and the relationships that had supported him.
“I felt deeply alone, but I was also ashamed,” he said. “Because it was my fault — I was ignoring those relationships. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.”
It was his wife who encouraged him to reconnect with his friends and helped him overcome the shame that had isolated him.
“We can’t think of ways out of shame. What we often have to do is experience ways out of shame,” said Dr. Murthy. In life, we often need someone to check on us and remind us that we are loved.
“One of the best definitions of a friend I ever heard was when I was in college. A friend is someone who reminds you of who you are when you forget.”
He told Winfrey and the audience that just 15 minutes a day on the phone or in person can help you connect with friends and loved ones. The key, he said, is to stay focused on that connection at all times instead of checking emails or scrolling through his social media.
Dr. Mercy also led the crowd through a short exercise that brought some of the audience to tears.
He reminded those in attendance, with their right hand on their heart and their eyes closed, to remind them of their inherent worth, the people in their lives who have loved them over the years and supported them in difficult times. I asked them to think for 20 seconds about the people who gave them to me.
“Feel their love flowing through you, strengthening you, lifting you up, filling you with peace,” he said. “And their love is in your heart, so remember that even if they’re not physically with you, their love will always be with you.”
Dr. Mercy admitted that sometimes people say to him:
However, he said: “
And that means embracing love, which he called “our oldest medicine.”
“It has an extraordinary ability to heal, a force we need to reach in our daily lives.”
Other speakers, including Dr. Brooks and UCLA students, also spoke about the importance of love to human prosperity.
“Happiness is love, it’s a dead end,” Dr. Brooks said.
WOW 2023 was also attended by UCLA President Gene Block, Ph.D., and UCLA Health President. Gionese Spisso, MPAannounced that UCLA will open a new hospital dedicated to mental health in 2026.