02/24/2020
The compassionate first book from former Surgeon General Murthy draws attention to loneliness as a major public health risk. Drawing on current research and on personal experience as a physician to show how social isolation can exacerbate ailments such as heart disease, as well as mental health issues, Murthy demonstrates that human connection is an innate need. With urgency but not stridence, he argues for a renewed culture of civic engagement to strengthen the “prepolitical layer of voluntary associations” that De Tocqueville identified as cohesive for American life. Rather than people who are experiencing loneliness themselves, Murthy’s intended readership consists of those who want to help, whether as medical professionals, social workers, teachers, or community volunteers. He offers them plenty of encouragement, with success stories from his own experience with patients and from others’ grassroots initiatives. As an example of how to strengthen the place of community in one’s life, he describes how the Physician Moms’ Group, formed by a stressed doctor and new mother trying to connect with others like herself, grew from 20 to 70,000 members. His gentle approach to the topic has profound implications for both individual health care and community wellness. Agent: Richard Pine, InkWell. (Apr.)
One of our most beloved surgeon generals, Murthy has a big heart and a big message. We have a massive, deadly epidemic hidden in plain sight: loneliness. It is as harmful to health as smoking and far more common. And as his gripping stories of the science and suffering make clear, we can do something about it. Together is fascinating, moving, and essential reading.” — Atul Gawande, author of Being Mortal
“Vivek Murthy reminds us that our national conversation about medicine has been too narrowly focused on hospitals, doctors, and drugs—and not enough on the human connections that sustain us. Together stands with Atul Gawande’s classic Being Mortal.” — Malcolm Gladwell, New York Times bestselling author of The Tipping Point, Outliers, and Talking to Strangers
“Profound, empathic, and ultra-savvy about the plight of disconnect and the power of human connection, this book is a balm and an inspiration. Together offers a convincing diagnosis of a public health epidemic of loneliness in our time, and is also a well-articulated etiology, prognosis, and treatment plan based on kindness and caring for each other.” — Jon Kabat-Zinn, founder of MBSR and author of Full Catastrophe Living and Meditation Is Not What You Think
"Some books enlighten, but others stun. Together is a stunner. It made me rethink much of what I believe about physical health, public policy, and the human condition. By revealing America’s epidemic of loneliness—and then offering an array of remedies for the condition—Murthy has done a great service, and made Together the most important book you’ll read this year.” — Daniel H. Pink, #1 New York Times bestselling author of When and Drive
“In Together, Vivek Murthy has put his finger on an important and under-recognized health hazard. By identifying loneliness as a key factor underpinning so many mental and physical illnesses, he opens the door to acceptance and offers much-needed solutions. We need Murthy’s book now more than ever.” — David A. Kessler, MD, New York Times bestselling author of The End of Overeating, Capture, and Fast Carbs, Slow Carbs
“Sometimes the most obvious thing is the hardest to see. Thank goodness we have Dr. Vivek Murthy to light the way toward understanding loneliness and its dark corners. This book is a gift for us all.” — Susan Cain, New York Times bestselling author of Quiet
“Together is an extraordinary and essential book for our time. With powerful stories and sobering truths, Dr. Murthy does a masterful job of showing how, even in the digital age, there’s no substitute for authentic human connection.” — Ben Silbermann, Co-founder and CEO of Pinterest
“I love both the message and the messenger of this brilliant book. Listen to what Vivek Murthy has to say about social connection—and then take his advice. It’s exactly what the doctor ordered.” — Angela Duckworth, New York Times bestselling author of Grit
Profound, empathic, and ultra-savvy about the plight of disconnect and the power of human connection, this book is a balm and an inspiration. Together offers a convincing diagnosis of a public health epidemic of loneliness in our time, and is also a well-articulated etiology, prognosis, and treatment plan based on kindness and caring for each other.
One of our most beloved surgeon generals, Murthy has a big heart and a big message. We have a massive, deadly epidemic hidden in plain sight: loneliness. It is as harmful to health as smoking and far more common. And as his gripping stories of the science and suffering make clear, we can do something about it. Together is fascinating, moving, and essential reading.
I love both the message and the messenger of this brilliant book. Listen to what Vivek Murthy has to say about social connection—and then take his advice. It’s exactly what the doctor ordered.
Sometimes the most obvious thing is the hardest to see. Thank goodness we have Dr. Vivek Murthy to light the way toward understanding loneliness and its dark corners. This book is a gift for us all.
"Some books enlighten, but others stun. Together is a stunner. It made me rethink much of what I believe about physical health, public policy, and the human condition. By revealing America’s epidemic of loneliness—and then offering an array of remedies for the condition—Murthy has done a great service, and made Together the most important book you’ll read this year.
Vivek Murthy reminds us that our national conversation about medicine has been too narrowly focused on hospitals, doctors, and drugs—and not enough on the human connections that sustain us. Together stands with Atul Gawande’s classic Being Mortal.
Together is an extraordinary and essential book for our time. With powerful stories and sobering truths, Dr. Murthy does a masterful job of showing how, even in the digital age, there’s no substitute for authentic human connection.
In Together, Vivek Murthy has put his finger on an important and under-recognized health hazard. By identifying loneliness as a key factor underpinning so many mental and physical illnesses, he opens the door to acceptance and offers much-needed solutions. We need Murthy’s book now more than ever.
2020-01-26
The former surgeon general examines the health crises brought on by a more overarching plague: loneliness.
“For more than a century,” writes Murthy, “the physicians holding this office [the surgeon general’s] have addressed national health crises ranging from yellow fever and influenza outbreaks to the aftermath of hurricanes and tornados to the terrorist attacks on 9/11.” The epidemic he was called on to address took more insidious forms: eating disorders, depression, opioid and other chemical addiction, and suicide. All have in common a source in social dislocation—but not isolation, since being able to be alone can be a healthy thing—that in turn produces loneliness, the inability to summon human contact when human contact is wanted, even if one is in a room full of people. These days, the author writes, Americans aren’t good at being with others, and it doesn’t help that social media thrives on our loneliness, for which we turn to a world of virtual others for succor. Murthy’s approach is anecdotal, sometimes annoyingly so: Not every observation needs an “I was Joe’s anomie” story to back it, which blunts rather than sharpens the message. Still, the numbers are meaningful. As the author observes, there are more lonely or socially isolated people in America today than there are smokers, smoking having been a health problem that medicine and society banded together to do something about, never mind the tobacco lobbyists. Loneliness is more difficult to spot than a curl of smoke, and for that, Murthy offers some useful prescriptions, including teaching people “self-compassion,” which “is what shields us from—or at least softens the blow of—the judgment and ridicule of people who don’t understand us.” Other measures for young people, who bear much of the weight of the epidemic, include setting aside more family time and encouraging offline as well as online play.
A touch too pat at times but, overall, a well-considered diagnosis of a real and overlooked crisis in public health.