Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World

Content Warning: This section of the Study Guide discusses depression, anxiety, suicide, self-harm, addiction, violence, and other public health concerns.

“It wasn’t just the physical presence of absence of friends and family that I noticed. It was the hunger for companionship.”

Murthy’s time at Brigham and Women’s Hospital first alerted him to the connection between human health and loneliness. Many of Murthy’s patients went for days or even weeks without contact with the outside world. These patients were so starved for social connection that they look forward to visits from the hospital staff.

“Solitude, paradoxically, protects against loneliness.”

Murthy draws a distinction between solitude and loneliness. Solitude is a voluntary state that offers opportunities for self-reflection and promotes self-knowledge. By contrast, loneliness is an involuntary, painful state that distances people from their true selves. Murthy argues that solitude protects against loneliness because it allows people to tune into themselves, which prepares them to tune in to those around them.

“Medicine and technology may fail us at times, but human connection grounded in love and compassion always heals.”

Acknowledging The Impact of Loneliness on Physical and Mental Health, Murthy argues that traditional medicine treats the symptoms of loneliness, such as depression, high blood pressure, and heart disease. Addressing loneliness with high-quality social connection, however, gets to the root of the problem.