{"id":14479,"date":"2026-02-05T14:59:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T20:59:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/for-your-health\/?p=14479"},"modified":"2026-02-05T14:59:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T20:59:15","slug":"on-social-connection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/for-your-health\/2026\/02\/05\/on-social-connection\/","title":{"rendered":"On social connection"},"content":{"rendered":"

Four down and two to go with our discussion of the 6 pillars of Lifestyle Medicine. Today I\u2019ll discuss the pillar of \u201csocial connection.\u201d In this newsletter \u00a0back in late July, I wrote about loneliness and reminded readers of former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy\u2019s declaration that loneliness and isolation were an urgent public health issue. In his 2023 annual report<\/a><\/strong>, he backed up that claim with data which included the facts that roughly half of Americans feel lonely, that being socially isolated is the health equivalent of smoking three-quarters of a pack of cigarettes per day, and many more risks, with consequences not just for the individual, but across all of society.<\/p>\n

However, given all the assumptions about belonging and well-being, I feel it is important to address some potential misconceptions:<\/p>\n

Solitude does not mean loneliness. Whereas loneliness is often associated with a sense of isolation and sadness\u2014and this rarely a choice\u2014solitude is typically chosen and is often associated with personal reflection and growth. And speaking of choices, there is the paradox (or, might I say, \u201coxymoron\u201d) of social media. When used intentionally for individual or community well-being, it can be a marvelous tool. Unfortunately, many social media business models thrive on user engagement with an algorithm designed to manipulate users\u2019 emotion or move them away from healthy relationships. The \u201cattention marketplace\u201d often results in the \u201cchoice architect\u201d being someone other than the user. As such, being among people does not equal connection or happiness.<\/p>\n

And note another misconception: introversion likewise does not equal loneliness. Many \u201cintroverts\u201d are quite social, perhaps just more selectively than their extroverted cohorts.\u00a0 (For those introverts out there, if you haven\u2019t already read it, I\u2019d recommend the book: Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking<\/em> by Susan Cain.)<\/p>\n

Belonging is the felt experience within the structure of community. In a seminal paper<\/a><\/strong> in the field of social psychology, Baumeister and Leary posited that a sense of belonging was the primary driver of physical and emotional health. And because President Armacost has declared this academic year \u201cThe Year of Community,\u201d let\u2019s continue to reinforce that structure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Four down and two to go with our discussion of the 6 pillars of Lifestyle Medicine. Today I\u2019ll discuss the pillar of \u201csocial connection.\u201d In this newsletter \u00a0back in late July, I wrote about loneliness and reminded readers of former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy\u2019s declaration that loneliness and isolation were an urgent public health […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":14480,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[909,3931,1547,897,354,284,3930],"class_list":["post-14479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-behavioral-health","tag-introvert","tag-loneliness","tag-mclean","tag-mental","tag-psychiatry","tag-social-connection"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nOn social connection - For Your Health<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/for-your-health\/2026\/02\/05\/on-social-connection\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"On social connection - For Your Health\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Four down and two to go with our discussion of the 6 pillars of Lifestyle Medicine. 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