The United States is experiencing a devastating loneliness crisis and
it's endangering public health.
And that's according to a new report from the Surgeon General,
I wanna share those results with you.
Why don't we take a look at the graph here that kind of explains and
helps you visualize how much of a problem this has become.
So this is the annual daily average in minutes, it's on the Y-axis.
The report found that since 2003,
social isolation increased by 24 hours per month.
So this is an ongoing trend, and yes, it increased even more during the pandemic,
but it was an ongoing trend before the pandemic.
Household family social engagement decreased by five hours per month.
This one really concerns me, companionship decreased 14 hours per month.
Let's take a look at the next graph that'll give you some more
information here.
Social engagement with friends decreased 20 hours per month.
In other words, Americans spent about 20 minutes a day in person with friends in
2020, and that was down from 60 minutes daily nearly two decades earlier.
But again, you could say, it's the pandemic that caused this but it's not.
You can see that it was trending downward well before the pandemic.
>> It also looks like that's a decrease of 40 hours rather than 20, but
it's been a while since I took a stats class.
Maybe I'm confusing myself.
>> Yeah, don't trip me up here, okay?
>> Apologies.
>> All right, also, non household family social engagement decreased 6.5 hours, and
social engagement with others decreased 10 hours per month.
And so the loneliness epidemic, if you're wondering who's being impacted by this
the most, is actually hitting young people ages 15 to 24, especially hard.
The age group reported a 70% drop in time spent with friends during the same period.
So we'll talk about causes and what the health ramifications are in just a moment.
But John, I'm really curious what you think about this.
I know that you have acknowledged that the loneliness crisis exists.
What do you think is behind it?
>> Well, look, I mean, especially if you're talking about a more than
20 year period, then it's gonna be a lot of stuff being behind it.
I think particularly when you talk about affecting young people and
when we're not just constraining ourselves at the time of the pandemic,
then it's almost certainly a lot of it is gonna be technology.
I think that's pretty clear, which is also why I would wonder I would love to define
more closely a few things that they're talking about.
So when they talk about companionship that's shared time spent
pursuing intrinsic satisfaction, do they include pets in that
because that can still be that can increase intrinsic satisfaction.
>> Definitely.
>> But also when they say that people between 15 and 20 or
whatever have dropped 70%, then I find it very easy to believe that, yes, okay.
They're probably spending 70% less time going to the mall, going to the movie,
stuff like that but are they playing online games?
Are they communicating that can still be companionship?
I don't know that it's the same necessarily and I think there are a lot of
reasons to be worried about the numbers that we're seeing.
But it could also be that companionship and shared time is not just
a thing of it going up or down in amount, but changing in how exactly you do it.
>> Yes, changing in form, right?
Yeah, I think you make a good point.
>> I play card games with my friends online, and
we're on Discord talking over voice chat.
It's not the same as being around a table, but it's sustained our friendship for
like 12 years since we've lived near each other.
>> So look, you bring up a good point, but while that might not be conducive
to loneliness, I do also worry about some of the impacts of that as well, right.
Like the ability to pick up on social cues, the ability to have a conversation
with a person for the first time in a public setting.
You get what I'm saying?
That's why apps are now using AI technology to communicate,
to converse with your matches on these dating apps, right.
>> Isn't that amazing?
>> It is. >> The issue is that we're not spending
enough time in real life with each other and it's difficult to meet people.
So instead we turn to an app to meet people and
then it's just two robots talking to each other.
>> Yeah, it's kind of dystopian, no?
>> Yeah, look, I think that this is the sort of thing that in theory,
you could turn around.
I mean, I definitely think, look, this is, again, going over many, many years,
but there's more than there was a year into the pandemic, but
there's still less people working in close proximity.
That's not your family member, it's not necessarily your best friend, but
it is still a form of companionship.
I think it can help to stop loneliness when you're around people with some sort
of shared mission or whatever.
So I think you could throw that into the list of many, many
contributing factors but I also think that you can theoretically turn this around.
Like sometimes things that are sort of retro come back,
maybe hanging out in person.
It's one of the reasons I play board games as much as I do.
I go to board game meetups because it's people around a table.
>> Can I admit something?
And if you had said to me back in 2016 that 2023 Anna
was about to say what I'm about to say, I would be shocked.
I kind of wanna do live shows because I want to meet our viewers in person.
I wanna connect with them on a more
no [CROSSTALK] >> I totally agree I was lucky enough to
be able to do one with Francesca at San Francisco Sketch Fest earlier this year,
and it was incredible.
>> Yeah.
Because, look, you're there, you're there, but all I'm seeing is glass.
We spend a lot of our time looking at reflective glass.
>> But you get to learn about us, but I wanna learn about you anyway.
>> Yeah, it's kind of selfish of you guys when you think about it.
>> So selfish.
>> But anyway,
it's one of the reasons we read a lot more comments than we did before the pandemic.
>> That's true, I think so as well.
And we get a lot more comments than we did before the pandemic,
at least it feels like it.
Okay, so let's get to some more details from the findings here.
So Dr. Murphy writes that about half of us adults also have experienced loneliness,
a number that's been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic,
that makes a lot of sense.
And of course, one of the factors is technology and
how that contributes to loneliness.
One study cited in the report found that people who use social media for
two hours or more daily were more than twice as likely to report feeling socially
isolated than those who were on such apps for less than 30 minutes a day.
>> That's fascinating.
>> I got to say, I'm not on those apps a lot at all these days at all.
And I don't feel lonely [LAUGH] >> Yeah, I mean, look,
there's a lot of different ways to interpret that data, though.
It is possible that just they're on it, they feel lonely.
It's possible that they would feel less lonely even if their life is exactly
the same if they weren't on the apps.
That it's not about the friendships or the relationships.
It's just that they are feeling like the artificial competition.
It's also possible that people that feel social loneliness
are then turning to apps to fill that void and finding that it doesn't actually work.
It's possible that they're actually correlated rather than one being causal.
You're coming in with all your methodology, too, because you're right.
>> It's still a problem.
>> Those are really good points though, and I think that in order to address
the problem, you have to accurately identify what the causes are.
So I like that you're mentioning all these things, but
where I'm the most skeptical or would like to see a little more detail, a little
more elaboration is how this translates to physical health issues, right?
So let's take a look at this graph that shows how lacking social
connection is allegedly as dangerous as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
I don't know if I believe that.
I'm just keeping it honest and real with you guys.
How is that as dangerous as smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day?
>> I mean, look, they're saying odds of premature mortality,
which is as general a term of you died early as possible.
I don't think they're saying it'll literally like curdle your lungs.
>> No, I get that.
>> But think about the people well, think about the people who are married for
60 years and then one of them dies, and then the other passes away a month later.
>> I don't wanna think about that, I don't wanna think about that.
>> The body can't survive if the will isn't there.
>> How about the fact that we have immense pain and
suffering to look forward to in our later life?
>> Speak for yourself.
>> God. >> Taking care of.
>> I really hope I go first, okay.
>> I wanna preserve life as long as possible, which is why I eat so
many preservatives.
I'm gonna last as long as a Twinkie.
>> Did you have a Pop Tart today?
>> I have not had a Pop Tart today, but the day is still young.
>> So let's give you more details on it.
So loneliness increases the risk of premature death by 30%,
with the report revealing that those with poor social relationships also
had a greater risk of stroke and heart disease.
Isolation also elevates a person's likelihood of experiencing depression,
anxiety and dementia, that makes sense to me.
>> Yeah. >> Right, because, look,
I know that when I'm going through a tough time, whether it's at work or
with my family, whatever it is, what makes me feel better,
which what lowers my stress is sharing a glass of wine with my best friend,
having a conversation with her.
I'm guessing that stress increases Cortisol levels.
Cortisol translates to lack of sleep, eating unhealthy,
like your body craves like terrible foods when Cortisol spikes.
And so maybe that's what's going on here.
I just wanna understand it a little better.
I believe it, I just wanna understand it a little better.
>> Yeah, well, there's a lot of issues, definitely.
>> So hang out with your friends, go out for a cup of coffee.
Have a conversation with someone you don't know.
I don't know if those meetup websites still exist?
>> I'm assuming they do.
>> I think they do.
>> Yeah, look, I think the solution has to be multifaceted.
I think that there have been a lot of factors that could potentially.
>> You're right, this is the thing I wanted to say.
I can't believe I forgot to say this.
We're working too much as well, right?
So having super long work days makes people exhausted,
and then they end up going home, and they don't wanna do anything else.
It's really hard to be social when you're overworked, so
I think we need to address that.
Sorry to interrupt you.
>> No, you're totally right.
I think look, a three day weekend, this is another thing that I think it
would be very beneficial for, but also I think it's a couple attached issues.
I think that people who theoretically have family and
friend relationships that they could be leaning on more.
I think there have been influences that have led to us doing less of it,
I think you just listed one.
Theoretically, if people get home and they're exhausted and
just want to watch TV and now there is way more that you can do solo.
Sometimes people will do the easy thing even if that doesn't lead to long term
happiness.
But then there's also a lot of people who just don't have friends because I think
there's a lot of things about the modern world that make it more difficult.
A lot of people maybe have to move for work.
There's a lot of things that can make it.
So I think there can be some social stuff to incentivize spending more
time with the friends and other connections that you have, but
then also trying to make it a little bit easier to provide opportunities for
people to make new connections.
>> I think it's such a great point and concur wholeheartedly.