In 2023, then-U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy officially declared a loneliness epidemic. At the time, many of us did feel lonely. There's countless anecdotal evidence accumulated from our time navigating the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic. And for many people, that isolation didn’t stop when the world started opening back up again.
In an advisory titled “Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation,” Murthy labeled that growing sense of forced solitude as an epidemic. By naming it, he made the problem tangible — an enemy that can harm us as much as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, according to the report.
The report also offered a clear way to fight that enemy. The solution is seemingly simple: Americans should build social connections and find community to heal our loneliness problem.
Social connection, the report says, “is a critical and underappreciated contributor to individual and population health, community safety, resilience, and prosperity.”
However, finding friends, especially as adults, can be challenging.
Finding a community is the answer. But where do you look?
If you’re looking for a built-in community or for friends who might have a similar world view as you, try volunteering with an organization that aligns with your values.
Beyond finding potentially lifelong friends and helping make your community better, there are personal benefits to volunteering. Research has tied higher volunteer engagement to lower levels of physical pain, and health care experts say volunteering can help combat chronic stress.
So why not give it a try? National Volunteer Week runs April 20-26, meaning it’s as good a time as any to reach out to local organizations and find out how to get started.
IPR asked Iowans to share what organizations they volunteer with and how getting involved has impacted their social life. Here’s what they had to say:
Take it from the expert: Social connection is a key tool in combating mental illness
National Alliance on Mental Illness Iowa (NAMI) Executive Director Ryan Crane has seen firsthand how civic engagement and volunteerism can impact a person’s mental health journey.
Crane says getting involved in your community can provide key building blocks for mental health recovery. He also provides tips for how someone with poor mental health can get more involved in their community.
Here are a few good first steps to take to combat loneliness:
- Try out a hobby, such as learning a musical instrument or taking daily walks.
- Look for a “third place.” Do you have a place to spend time with others that isn’t work or your home? Finding some reason to gather in person outside of the house with a set frequency will help you find a routine with built-in accountability from your community, pushing you to show up even when you feel like staying home.
- Crane suggests joining a cycling club with weekly meet ups, singing in a choir, or volunteering to take care of animals at the ARL.
- Tell others how to keep you accountable. Identify what wellness looks like for you and tell your trusted friends and family about specific signs they can look out for to know if you’re not feeling like yourself.
IPR’s Madeleine Willis interviewed Ryan Crane about mental health and the importance of civic engagement. Below is the conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity.
Madeleine Willis: Why is it important for people to be civically engaged?
Ryan Crane: I think it provides two aspects of mental health recovery: purpose and community. Purpose being volunteerism, work, family caretaking, school, even creative endeavors and hobbies. And a sense of community, which is relationships and social networks that provide some sense of hope and some sense of connection. I think both of those are achieved through volunteerism, because volunteerism is a way to express purpose.
Willis: What are the benefits of civic engagement?
Crane: Social inclusion, networking, a sense of empowerment. When an individual feels like they are a part of their community, they respect their community, they don't want bad things to happen in their community. They feel a sense of connection and a sense of responsibility.
Increasingly, studies are beginning to show that physical health and mental health have a strong tie. So, in addition to volunteerism — and talking more broadly about purpose — I think that pursuing a hobby, learning a musical instrument and going outside for a walk, these things are part of mental health, as well.
Willis: How does civic engagement — volunteerism specifically — help combat struggles with mental health?
Crane: Isolation, withdrawal and loneliness are real issues in society today. The prior surgeon general actually released a full government report on the epidemic of loneliness. We see that retrenchment from civic life and community. Folks increasingly are isolated at home, or isolated on their devices, or isolated through lack of network, friends or close acquaintances. And as folks lose touch with each other, that sense of community begins to fray, and that is where loneliness and isolation and losing that sense of purpose can become a problem.
Willis: What kind of civic engagement can help combat loneliness?
Crane: Gathering in person with some frequency is important for civic engagement, I think. That could be church, that could be rotary, that could be a chamber association in a smaller town in Iowa. Civic involvement can look like any number of things.
Willis: You’ve previously mentioned the importance of “finding your third place.” Can you tell me more about what that means?
Crane: Third places are when you're not at home and when you're not at school — or in the case of adults, if you're not at home and you're not at work — where are you? And if the answer is “Nowhere, I'm always at work or home,” it’s getting to that intersection and exploring how not great that is.
And then the antidote, again, is community, is purpose, is volunteerism and some of the very things we've been talking about. “Third place” just takes it from a slightly different angle. If you ask someone and they say that they don’t really have a third place — a choir that they belong to, or a bicycling club that every Thursday goes on a ride, something like that, it's possible they’ll have worse health outcomes over time.
It keeps you in a routine. Purpose and community isn't always sunshine and puppy dogs. It’s showing up — and sometimes you don’t feel like showing up — but it’s still important, right?
Willis: Are there any tools that you can suggest to help someone struggling with mental health to take the first steps towards finding a group or community or volunteerism?
Crane: Having a wellness plan for yourself and knowing what it's like to be well for yourself is important. And telling friends, family and sometimes coworkers, if you feel it's appropriate, kind of what wellness looks like.
And then talking to them honestly [about what] wellness doesn't look like. And be authentic about that so there’s an extra layer of accountability for when you need it.
Some folks who deal with depression or anxiety or phobias do have a harder time getting out there and if they begin to regress on their wellness journey, or have a detour on their wellness journey, getting back is important. And the way that they get back is if their loved ones and friends and colleagues can recognize those signs.
That is literal community.
