ConnectionLoneliness as a public health issueAdults · General

The U.S. Surgeon General Named Loneliness a Public Health Priority

A 2023 advisory reviewed the evidence on social connection and concluded that loneliness and isolation carry health risks comparable to other major, well-known risk factors.

Study title: The U.S. Surgeon General Named Loneliness a Public Health Priority — Office of the U.S. Surgeon General (Vivek H. Murthy), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2023

Study type: Guideline
Population: U.S. general adult population, drawing on a synthesis of existing research literature
Published: 2023
Evidence confidence: Moderate confidence

The short version

A 2023 U.S. Surgeon General advisory concluded that loneliness and isolation carry health risks on par with other major, well-established risk factors.

Why it matters

The advisory's significance is less about new data and more about elevating social connection to the same policy tier as smoking, diet and physical activity — treating it as a determinant of health in its own right rather than a lifestyle nicety.

The question

What does the existing body of research show about the health effects of loneliness and social disconnection, and what should be done about it?

How it was studied

A public health advisory that synthesises published epidemiological, psychological and physiological research on social connection, loneliness and isolation, and sets out a national framework for addressing it, including a proposed six-pillar strategy for policy, workplaces, schools, health systems, technology and communities.

What they found

The advisory reports that about one in two U.S. adults experienced measurable levels of loneliness even before the COVID-19 pandemic, and that poor social connection is associated with increased risk of heart disease, stroke, dementia, depression, anxiety, and premature death — citing associations of a similar or greater magnitude than well-known risk factors such as obesity and physical inactivity.

Limitations

This is a synthesis and policy document rather than a new primary study; it draws heavily on the observational literature discussed elsewhere in this body of research, so it inherits the same limits around causation. It was not peer-reviewed in the academic sense, though it underwent internal government review and cites extensively.

What it may mean

In real life

If you've ever felt that worrying about your social life seemed less legitimate than worrying about sleep or diet, this document is a formal statement that the two belong in the same category.

Try this

Notice one relationship you've let go quiet not because it ended, but because life got busy, and treat re-establishing it with the same seriousness you'd give a health check-up.

Evidence confidence

Moderate confidence

The advisory is a credible, well-sourced synthesis from a public health authority, but as a summary document it reflects the strengths and the observational limits of the underlying studies it cites rather than adding independent new evidence.

Source

Office of the U.S. Surgeon General (Vivek H. Murthy) (2023). The U.S. Surgeon General Named Loneliness a Public Health Priority. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Not peer-reviewed · Free full text available · Last reviewed 2026-08-14

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The Case for Connection as Self-Care

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