Ep. 99: Understanding and Combating Loneliness with Dr. Vivek Murthy- 19th Surgeon General of the United States

Dr. Vivek Murthy served as the 19th Surgeon General of the United States from December 2014 to April 2017. During this time, Dr. Murthy created initiatives to tackle the United States’ most urgent public health issues, which included addition, chronic stress, and demystifing vaccines. In addition to his role as U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Murthy also served as the Vice Admiral of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, where he commanded a uniformed service of 6,600 public health officers, serving the most underserved and vulnerable populations in over 800 locations domestically and abroad. He worked with thousands of Commissioned Corps officers to strengthen the Corps and protect the nation from Ebola and Zika and to respond to the Flint water crisis, major hurricanes, and frequent health care shortages in rural communities. Recently, Dr. Murthy published “Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World”, which looks at loneliness as a public health concern and explores the ways in which we can overcome it. We are honored to be able to share this special conversation with you, which was also featured in this year’s 2020 Co-Mindfulness Summit.

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Show Notes

[00:32] He's the author of the best selling book “Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World.” In his groundbreaking book, Dr. Murthy makes a case for loneliness as a public health concern, a root cause and contributor to many of the epidemic sweeping the world today from alcohol and drug addiction to violence, depression and anxiety.
[3:33] When I heard these stories of loneliness, they were surprising that they weren't unfamiliar because I had struggled myself with loneliness for many years, starting as a child actually in elementary school ...
[7:32] Is it the ways in which we are using technology and social media in particular, are ways that are actually diluting our relationships and separating us further and further from each other?
[11:20] One of the things that I learned, one of the key realizations, if you will, when writing this book, was that the foundation for connecting with other people is connecting deeply with ourselves.
[17:27] And one of the studies I talked about in the book was an interesting study that was done in the UK where they found that even the presence of a phone on the table when two people were having a conversation led them to feel worse about the quality of that interaction.
[17:27] And one of the studies I talked about in the book was an interesting study that was done in the UK where they found that even the presence of a phone on the table when two people were having a conversation led them to feel worse about the quality of that interaction.
[23:27] I worry that the answer is yes, that there is a link between how we are using social media and how we're using technology, that there's a link between the messages that our children are getting about their self-worth and on the other hand, rates of depression and anxiety that we are in fact seeing.
[32:19] That's so important, I think, for all of us to reflect on and as you said, to sort of think about how grateful we are for those people in our lives that we can be who we are.
[35:44] And the truth is, we don't have to wait until our final days. We can build a more deeply connected life now.
Thank you for joining us on Health Gig. We loved having you with us. We hope you'll tune in again next week. In the meantime, be sure to like and subscribe to this podcast, and follow us on healthgigpod.com.

“Five minutes of focused conversation where you're fully present, where you're listening deeply to someone else, where you're sharing openly, is often far more powerful than an hour of distracting conversation.” - Dr. Vivek Murthy
“In those moments that when everything else falls away in the final stages of life, it's our relationships that rise to the top, that remain as the enduring great source of fulfillment and value.” - Dr. Vivek Murthy
“The foundation for connecting with other people is connecting deeply with ourselves.” - Dr. Vivek Murthy

Keywords

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