Isolation

In a 2015 interview, the Surgeon General of the United States was asked what the biggest disease facing America was. As reported by Thomas Friedman of The New York Times, Vivek Murthy gave a surprising and attention-grabbing one word answer, "isolation." Off-hand, I would have guessed heart disease, cancer or even increasing obesity as the answer to Friedman's question. One wonders how in these times of great technology and folks having the ability to almost instantly connect with another or friend how feeling isolated could happen. Aren't we supposed to be, in fact, the connected generation?

Yes, we are. Yet in Murthy's view, feeling alone is the biggest thing from which people suffer. How ironic is that? To me, this points to several of my own observations. One is that people are not using technology to connect as much as they are to express themselves. Connecting with another requires placing greater priority on building a relationship than it does focusing on one's own feelings, perspective or interpretation of the surrounding world. I do not see that happening as much as it should. Another observation, clearly related to the first, is that people are placing less importance on listening. They would much rather be in the role of message sender than message receiver. This is understandable, yet unfortunate.

Therefore, the growing ailment of isolation is directly linked to a decline in our interpersonal skills. The less effort we makes in making and sustaining connections, the greater our sense of feeling alone. Given this, it leads so many of us to wondering why more folks are not reaching out to us. Instead, we should be trying to figure out ways we can more effectively reach out to others. Does this mean we all should become social butterflies? No. But it does mean we may want to begin viewing what we see, hear and read with a perspective that goes beyond our own. To do so calls for an adjustment in how we go about communicating with all those around us.