Feeling lonely is more prevalent in Americans—even young, smart, friendly ones—than diabetes and smoking. So it’s likely you’ve felt it. But when’s the last time you thought about it? Mentioned it?
“Many of my male friends are also struggling with loneliness—and I have struggled with it at many points in my life. But it’s not something we often talk about,” says Vivek H. Murthy, M.D., who served as the 19th Surgeon General of the United States not too long ago (2014-2017). Women struggle with it, too. And in listening to how strongly people around the country resonate to that thought, he’s talking about it. A lot. Out loud. And in the form of a book due out in April called Together: The Healing Power of a Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World.