Social Connections - Key to Mental Wellbeing

In reviewing the Current State of US Health, one factor that is glaring today and the foreseeable future is the state of mental health.? I have addressed the mental health issue from one perspective - smartphones in an article I wrote “Social media wreaking havoc on young adults”.

In this brief follow-up commentary, NY Times had an article this weekend, “A Nation of Homebodies”, where we are spending more time at home than ever in the past.

The Statistics of Being A Homebody

From 2003 through 2022, the American Time Use Survey, shows that time spent at home has increased by 1 hour 39 minutes a day, or 10 percent.? Clearly, COVID was a significant factor to this shift from 2020 to 2022, but levels remain far elevated (at home vs outside of home) since pre-Covid levels.?

Drilling down on the data, the activities that have shifted the most from outside to home include religious activities (largest shift) along with education and eating and drinking (with the help of GrubHub, DoorDash, Uber Eats).

Concern with Loneliness - Especially Young Adults

Being at home is not necessarily bad, but the study also reveals that we are spending more time alone. Losing social connections is a significant factor on one's mental health wellbeing.

The Time Use study found that while people were spending somewhat more time with family at home, much more of the time at home was alone. For each additional hour spent at home, people spent an additional 7.4 minutes with family and 21 minutes alone, but five fewer minutes with friends.

Those ages 15 to 34 have had the greatest increase in time at home, spending roughly two more hours there on a typical day in 2022 compared with 2003.

Loneliness Impact - Don't take my word for it, ask the Surgeon General

Loneliness has the mortality impact of being socially disconnected is similar to that caused by smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day.? Wall Street Journal article from November covered this topic very well in, “Loneliness Isn’t Just Bad for Your Health—It’s Deadly”.

Homework for Readers - Action Item!

Schedule an in-person event this week for the coming month! Here are a few suggestions:

• Coffee/Lunch with friend(s)
• After work gatherings with co-workers who are both RTO and WFH
• Join an organization in your field and join their next in-person meeting. Drag a friend along to help!
• Get involved in a Meetup group - work related or recreation
• Forest bath with a group - get outside and be with friends. It is not as weird as it sounds.
• Volunteer!- Matthew 25 (Local to Cincinnati) - Sidenote advice- Just do not tell an unhinged individual in a team message "Great Teamwork" on the JNJ Inspire board - it may cost your job. A story for another day about Babbling Brook.
• Take a bourbon tour with friends - ok, that may be on my personal list

Get out there - renew and make new social connections!

It will be good for your mental wellbeing.

?#healthcare #medicine #health #future #mentalhealth

Joseph W. Sunderman is an Intelligence Analyst/Strategist that is a student of understanding the Current State of the US Health and its impact for the next decade. I developed the thesis over several months for Directions Research Group.? Upon completion of boiling the ocean on the topic and created an impeccable deliverable, revenue shortfalls and project delays led to my role being eliminated as part of a budget cut.

?In the past, Joe spent seven years at medical device giant Ethicon (division of Johnson & Johnson) with the most recent role as US Regional Manager of Strategic Insights and Pricing.? In his seven years at JNJ, he received recognition for his servant leadership, where he was a stand out in performance by being a top 10% recipient of Encore and Inspire Awards over multiple years.? Dozens and dozens of accolades from contributors to senior leaders for his collaborative work.? Prior to Ethicon, Joe has had a wide variety of experiences in medical claims, banking, publishing, and retail.? He began his career at Schaeffer's Investment Research as a financial analyst, where he was ranked by Bridge Information Systems as one of the top 10 market analysts for three straight years for his commentary and stock picks found in Schaeffer's Daily Bulletin. Joe has been published in the Market Pulse Journal and Chartpoint and his market comments have been printed in the USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Barron's, Investor's Business Daily, Dow Jones News Wire, and Reuters. Also, Joe has made appearances on Bloomberg television.