While COVID-19 is dangerous and mysterious, a parallel pandemic, loneliness, is in some ways even scarier. Loneliness is quieter and its symptoms can be nearly invisible.
Enter the vital moment of the international "Ministers of Loneliness." Around the world, countries are officially tapping people to tackle this cultural disease.
The United Kingdom has led the way, having a Minister of Loneliness since 2018. The UK just released its “Loneliness Annual Report,” which focuses on reducing the stigma, and providing data-based evidence of the problem that calls for immediate action. Japan named Tetsushi Sakamoto its “Minister of Loneliness” in 2021 after the country saw suicide rates increase for the first time in 11 years. In Japan, “hikikomori,” people who live in radical social isolation, has worsened during the COVID-19 surge.
In the United States, the closest we have to this role is Vivek Murthy, newly appointed surgeon general of the U.S. under the Biden administration (he was also surgeon general in the Obama years). Murthy is of course expert in the matters of body, but also of mind. He’s the author of “Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World.”
I keep going back to something Murthy said recently to Rachel Martin of NPR:
“I think this could take us down one of two paths. One path is the worrisome one, marked by greater loneliness as we spend more and more time physically separated from one another. But the other path is the path of social revival, if we recommitted to people and to relationships. We have the opportunity to use this moment to recenter our lives on people. And if we do that, then I believe we can come out of this pandemic more connected, more fulfilled and more resilient than before the pandemic began.”
-Vivek Murthy, U.S. Surgeon General
In this week’s show, “Living With Loneliness,” we talk about the politics and poetics of loneliness, and hear from a robot, Samantha, who has become the friend of computer programmer and musician Jason Roher.
To me, what Murthy says means it’s not too late, for any of us. If you're having thoughts of suicide or are in emotional distress, call the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988.
–Shannon