Curing America’s loneliness epidemic would make us healthier, fitter and less likely to abuse drugs

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Clay Marsh, West Virginia University

(THE CONVERSATION) A national healthadvisory issued by U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy on May 3, 2023, sheds light on the urgent public health issues of loneliness and isolation.

The report reflects Dr. Murthy’s personal and professional experience with the damaging health impacts of loneliness. As surprising as it sounds, social isolation and loneliness have the same effect on human health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, which is to say, it can shorten life span by up to 15 years.

I’m a leader in academic and clinical medicine and I served as the COVID-19 czar for the state of West Virginia, so I have experience in thinking about public health emergencies and how to fix them.

Let’s first look at the problem and then examine some solutions and what the nation would gain by...