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A promotional image for the "Collectively Student Feature 03" featuring Emma Green. The left side shows a smiling woman with curly hair wearing a blue top and a necklace, standing outdoors with greenery and a clear blue sky in the background. The right side has a teal background with abstract shapes, and text reading "Collectively Student Feature 03 | Emma Green" in white and orange.

Making the Case for Connection by Emma Green

Loneliness isn’t just emotionally painful, it’s a serious threat to your health. In Making the Case for Connection, Emma Green explores why human connection is essential and offers simple, meaningful ways to strengthen your social ties. Your health depends on it.

Have you ever had one of those days when it felt better to avoid people and stay at home, but by the end of it, you felt awful you hadn’t seen or talked to anyone all day? The reason why even a day’s worth of social isolation feels so bad is that it goes against human nature. By design, humans are social creatures who rely on others from the day they are born. Psychologists argue that belongingness is a psychological need (see Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and Bowlby’s attachment theory for examples), and without it, one cannot reach self-actualization and may form malattachments with caregivers. More than that, chronic loneliness can have significant impacts on one’s physical and mental health. When we spend too much time on social media or forgo our friend’s birthday party to stay in bed, we’re doing a disservice to our brains and bodies.

In a review of 70 reports on social isolation, researchers found that lacking social connection was comparable to well-known risk factors for early death, including obesity, lack of exercise, and smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

A chart comparing the odds of premature mortality from various health risks, with confidence intervals indicated. The risks are ranked as follows: lacking social connection (highest, in red), smoking up to 15 cigarettes daily (in purple), drinking 6 alcoholic drinks daily (in purple), physical inactivity (in purple), obesity (in purple), and air pollution (lowest, in purple). The odds range from 0 to 0. 8 on the x-axis. The chart is sourced from holt-lunstad et al. (2017), published in american psychologist, and is a visual approximation from the u. S. Surgeon general's office. The title above the chart reads, "lacking social connection is as dangerous as smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day. "
Chart titled “Lacking social connection is as dangerous as smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day,” elegantly comparing the odds of premature mortality from lacking social connection, smoking up to 15 cigarettes daily, consuming 6 alcoholic drinks daily, physical inactivity, obesity, and air pollution, based on insightful data from Holt-Lunstad et al. (2017) in the American Psychologist, and presented by the U.S. Surgeon General’s Office. Source: Health and Human Services


Those with weak social ties are more likely to suffer from a stroke, develop heart disease, and experience more severe symptoms of depression and anxiety. The risks associated with isolation are so striking that the U.S. Surgeon General declared loneliness a public health epidemic in 2023.

Alt text: an infographic from the world health organization (who) commission on social connection titled "social isolation and loneliness have serious impacts. " the infographic highlights four key impacts: 1) harm to physical and mental health (illustrated with heart and brain icons), 2) loneliness causing 870,000 deaths a year (illustrated with a skull icon), 3) reduces life expectancy, and 4) costs society billions in health care, education, and employment (illustrated with a money stack icon). The background is purple, and a qr code links to a downloadable report (bitly who-csc-report).
Infographic from the WHO Commission on Social Connection, titled “Social Isolation and Loneliness Have Serious Impacts,” detailing the serious effects including harm to physical and mental health, 870,000 annual deaths due to loneliness, reduced life expectancy, and billions in societal costs for health care, education, and employment, with a QR code linking to the report (BITLY WHO-CSC-REPORT), released on July 20, 2025. Source: World Health Organization


More recently, the World Health Organization’s Commission on Social Connection published a report on the risks associated with disconnection and urged global leaders to implement policies to support social connection. Given that loneliness accounts for close to 900,000 deaths each year, individuals, communities, and policymakers must collaborate to reverse this trend before the consequences become even more dire. 

On the individual level, there are many activities you can do to improve your social connections. Here are a few:

  1. Volunteer with an organization. This is a great way to make friends and feel good about giving back to the community. 
  2. Join a walking club. Not only will you feel the endorphins from the physical activity, but you will also enjoy the benefits of connecting to others and being in nature.
  3. Express gratitude for the people in your life. Consider writing them a heartfelt letter or getting them a small gift just because. The act of giving can often be more rewarding than receiving.
  4. Get to know your neighbors. Attend that HOA potluck you normally skip or introduce yourself to the new neighbors with a plate of freshly baked cookies. Who doesn’t love cookies?
  5. Spend more quality time with friends and family. Schedule hangouts in advance so they are more likely to happen, like a weekly game night or a regular coffee date.

However you choose to connect more with the people around you, be intentional about it, and above all, do it for your health.

Sources

  1. Holt-Lunstad, J., Robles, T. F., & Sbarra, D. A. (2017). Advancing social connection as a public health priority in the United States. *American Psychologist*, 72(6), 517-530. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691614568352
  2. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). *Social connection graphic comparison*. Retrieved from https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/sg-social-connection-graphic-comparison.pdf
  3. American Psychological Association. (2019). *The risks of social isolation*. Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/monitor/2019/05/ce-corner-isolation
  4. World Health Organization. (2025). *Social isolation and loneliness: A global public health concern*. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/978240112360
  5. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2023). *Our epidemic of loneliness and isolation: The U.S. Surgeon General’s advisory on the healing effects of social connection and community*. Retrieved from https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/surgeon-general-social-connection-advisory.pdf
  6. World Health Organization. (2025). *Social isolation and loneliness have serious impacts* [Infographic]. Retrieved from https://cdn.who.int/media/images/default-source/headquarters/groups/who-commission-on-social-connection/social-isolation-and-loneliness-have-serious-impacts.jpg?sfvrsn=28223d07_1
  7. World Health Organization. (2025). *Social isolation and loneliness: A global public health concern*. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/978240112360
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