When I think of public health threats, I think of diseases and not feelings. But the U.S. Surgeon General actually declared loneliness and isolation a national epidemic. The more I read about it, the more it made sense.

According to the Surgeon General’s 2023 advisory, about one in two adults reported experiencing loneliness, and being socially disconnected carries a health risk comparable to smoking daily. It’s linked to higher risks of heart disease, depression, anxiety, and even premature death. The advisory put loneliness in the same category as big public health issues like tobacco and obesity. That’s crazy.

That comparison to smoking is what got me. We treat something like loneliness as a personal thing and not a health thing, but the body doesn’t really separate the two. Stress and isolation take a real physical toll over time.

The flip side is that connection can protect your health. Strong relationships and community actually make people healthier. So this is one more example of how the stuff that shapes our health is actually happening outside the doctor’s office and in our relationships, neighborhoods and daily lives. It’s prevention, just a kind we don’t usually think about.