Loneliness Is Epidemic
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THE BIG IDEA REPRINT BG1705 PUBLISHED ON HBR.ORG SEPTEMBER 2017 CONNECTING AT WORK WE’RE MORE CONNECTED THAN EVER, BUT LONELINESS IS EPIDEMIC. WORK IS PART OF THE PROBLEM. NOW IT MUST BE PART OF THE SOLUTION. BY VIVEK MURTHY This document is authorized for use only by Liz Lawrence ([email protected]). Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. Please contact [email protected] or 800-988-0886 for additional copies. CONNECTING AT WORK VIVEK MURTHY 03 ARTICLE WORK AND THE LONELINESS EPIDEMIC 08 INTERACTIVE CONNECTING AROUND THE WORLD 10 ARTICLE WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT LONELINESS AND WORK? 13 Q&A: STEWART BUTTERFIELD LONELINESS AND THE DIGITAL WORKPLACE 16 ARTICLE THE SOCIAL MUSCLE 19 AUDIO POSTCARDS YOUR TAKE: CONNECTING AT WORK 22 ARTICLE THE DANGERS OF “MANDATORY FUN” HBR.ORG THE BIG IDEA 2 This document is authorized for use only by Liz Lawrence ([email protected]). Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. Please contact [email protected] or 800-988-0886 for additional copies. CONNECTING AT WORK VIVEK MURTHY FOR ARTICLE REPRINTS CALL 800-988-0886 OR 617-783-7500, OR VISIT HBR.ORG WORK AND THE LONELINESS EPIDEMIC REDUCING ISOLATION AT WORK IS GOOD FOR BUSINESS. BY VIVEK MURTHY n August 24, 1992, in the early hours of the morning, my family and I stepped out of our temporary shelter to find our city — and Oour lives — forever changed. We had spent the past several hours huddled together as Hurricane Andrew battered our South Florida neighborhood with torrential rain and near 170 mile per hour winds. We saw pieces of homes strewn across the landscape, power lines flung about like pieces of string, and sea creatures stranded in trees having been blown far inland by the storm. Like thousands of others, we survived the storm Looking today at so many other places around the and the many dark days that followed because of the world ravaged by disasters of all kinds, I think about kindness of strangers who brought food, water, and how often tragedy brings us together — and how fleet- comfort. Hurricane Andrew forged a deep sense of ing that connection often is. connection and community in South Florida as the na- There is good reason to be concerned about so- tion rallied around us and as we supported each other. cial connection in our current world. Loneliness is a But slowly, as normal lives resumed, the distance be- growing health epidemic. We live in the most techno- tween people returned. We went back to our homes, logically connected age in the history of civilization, our work, our schools, and our lives, and once again yet rates of loneliness have doubled since the 1980s. we grew apart. Today, over 40% of adults in America report feeling ©2017 HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL PUBLISHING CORPORATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This document is authorized for use only by Liz Lawrence ([email protected]). Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. Please contact [email protected] or 800-988-0886 for additional copies. CONNECTING AT WORK VIVEK MURTHY THE AUTHOR VIVEK MURTHY lonely, and research suggests that the real number may Vice Admiral Vivek H. Murthy underappreciated — drivers dedicated himself to well be higher. Additionally, the number of people who (@vivek_murthy) served as of health. In particular, improving health through the 19th Surgeon General of he has drawn attention the lens of service, research, report having a close confidante in their lives has been the United States, from 2014 to the profound impact and entrepreneurship. declining over the past few decades. In the workplace, to 2017. As Surgeon General, that loneliness and social He cofounded VISIONS, many employees — and half of CEOs — report feeling Dr. Murthy commanded disconnection have on an HIV/AIDS education lonely in their roles. the U.S. Public Health health, productivity, and program in India and the During my tenure as U.S. Surgeon General, I saw Service Commissioned education. United States and the first-hand how loneliness affected people of all ages Corps, a uniformed service Dr. Murthy received his Swasthya Community of 6,600 public health Bachelor’s degree from Health Partnership in rural and socioeconomic backgrounds across the country. offices serving vulnerable Harvard and his MD and India, which trains women I met middle and high school students in urban and populations in 800 locations MBA degrees from Yale. He to be health providers and rural areas who turned to violence, drugs, and gangs domestically and abroad. completed his residency educators. As a research to ease the pain of their loneliness. I sat with mothers During his tenure, he helped training at Brigham and scientist, Dr. Murthy and fathers who had lost sons and daughters to drug address critical public Women’s Hospital and conducted laboratory overdoses and were struggling to cope alone because health issues, including the Harvard Medical School, research on vaccine Ebola outbreak, the Zika where he later joined development and studied of the unfortunate stigma surrounding addiction. And virus, low rates of physical the faculty as an internal the participation of women I met factory workers, doctors, small business owners, activity, and the explosion medicine physician and and minorities in clinical and teachers who described feeling alone in their work in e-cigarette use among instructor. As a clinician- trials. He also cofounded and on the verge of burnout. youth. In 2016, he launched educator, Dr. Murthy TrialNetworks, a software During my years caring for patients, the most com- the TurnTheTideRx campaign has cared for thousands technology company, mon pathology I saw was not heart disease or diabetes; to combat the opioid of patients and trained now part of DrugDev, that epidemic. hundreds of residents and accelerates collaboration in it was loneliness. The elderly man who came to our Dr. Murthy has called medical students. clinical trials. hospital every few weeks seeking relief from chronic emotional well-being one of In addition to clinical pain was also looking for human connection: He was the most important — and practice, Dr. Murthy has lonely. The middle-aged woman battling advanced HIV who had no one to call to inform that she was sick: She was lonely too. I found that loneliness was often in the background of clinical illness, contributing to disease have the power to drive change at a societal level not and making it harder for patients to cope and heal. only by strengthening connections among employees, This may not surprise you. Chances are, you or partners, and clients but also by serving as an inno- someone you know has been struggling with loneli- vation hub that can inspire other organizations to ad- ness. And that can be a serious problem. Loneliness dress loneliness. and weak social connections are associated with a re- duction in lifespan similar to that caused by smoking 15 THE ROOTS OF LONELINESS cigarettes a day and even greater than that associated Loneliness is the subjective feeling of having inad- with obesity. But we haven’t focused nearly as much equate social connections. Why has this feeling in- effort on strengthening connections between people as creased over past decades? Partly because people are we have on curbing tobacco use or obesity. Loneliness more geographically mobile and are thus more likely to is also associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular be living apart from friends and family. Indeed, more disease, dementia, depression, and anxiety. At work, people report living alone today than at any time since loneliness reduces task performance, limits creativity, the census began collecting this data. In the workplace, and impairs other aspects of executive function such new models of working — such as telecommuting and as reasoning and decision making. For our health and some on-demand “gig economy” contracting arrange- our work, it is imperative that we address the loneli- ments — have created flexibility but often reduce the ness epidemic quickly. opportunities for in-person interaction and relation- Once we understand the profound human and eco- ships. And even working at an office doesn’t guarantee nomic costs of loneliness, we must determine whose meaningful connections: People sit in an office full of responsibility it is to address the problem. The govern- coworkers, even in open-plan workspaces, but every- ment and health care system have important roles to one is staring at a computer or attending task-oriented play in helping us understand the impact of loneliness, meetings where opportunities to connect on a human identifying who is affected, and determining which in- level are scarce. terventions work. But to truly solve loneliness requires Happy hours, coffee breaks, team-building exer- the engagement of institutions where people spend cises are designed to build connections between col- the bulk of their time: families, schools, social organi- leagues, but do they really help people develop deep zations, and the workplace. Companies in particular relationships? On average, we spend more waking HBR.ORG THE BIG IDEA 4 This document is authorized for use only by Liz Lawrence ([email protected]). Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. Please contact [email protected] or 800-988-0886 for additional copies. CONNECTING AT WORK VIVEK MURTHY MANY EMPLOYEES — AND LONELINESS SHORTENS HALF OF CEOS — REPORT LIFESPANS IN A WAY FEELING LONELY IN THEIR SIMILAR TO SMOKING 15 ROLES. CIGARETTES A DAY. hours with our coworkers than we do with our families. of which can buffer an individual during stressful sit- But do they know what we really care about? Do they uations and have positive effects on health. Indeed, understand our values? Do they share in our triumphs studies have found that companies whose workers and pains? feel they have high stress jobs have markedly higher These aren’t just rhetorical questions; from a bio- health care expenditures than their counterparts with logical perspective, we evolved to be social creatures.