The Art of Unloneliness
Can creativity help heal our crisis of disconnection?
Loneliness is a growing public health crisis, impacting over a third of Americans. It affects individuals psychologically, societally, and existentially and can create a dangerous "loneliness spiral" that can harm both physical and mental health. Through creative arts initiatives, storytelling and self-expression can foster connection, reduce stigma, and build resilience in an increasingly disconnected world.
WASHINGTON — Loneliness is a growing public health crisis impacting health and well-being nationwide, with more than 30% of the population reporting symptoms of anxiety and or depressive disorder in 2023, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. It’s having a detrimental impact on well-being, both for individuals and society at large.
Like hunger or thirst, loneliness is a natural signal that something essential—in this case, human connection—is lacking. While loneliness touches everyone, certain groups are particularly vulnerable, including older adults, college students, employees, and individuals in marginalized communities. However, lonely individuals are not necessarily willing to talk about it like they are if they're hungry or thirsty.
Being lonely isn’t unusual, and everyone experiences it from time to time, according to Jeremy Nobel, MD, MPH, a physician, founder of Project UnLonely, and author of Project Unlonely: Healing the Crisis of Disconnection (Avery). However, he shared that the loneliest adult demographic today is young adults, not older adults, as most people expect—a shift from previous generations, driven in part by the proliferation of social media and the fear of missing out. Some are calling this spike in loneliness a “crisis of disconnection.”
But it’s not just social media that’s disconnecting us. The automation of things that used to be done by humans is also impacting us, everything from banking to customer service to ordering food at restaurants. We’re missing out on daily interactions with people who machines have replaced. We’ve effectively removed humanity from daily interactions, creating the perfect conditions for isolation to spread.
“There is no silver bullet to solve the challenge of isolation, but there is a need to embrace creativity and imagination as a strategy, starting with a shift in how we think about loneliness,” Nobel says.
Public Health Crisis
“Loneliness is not the same thing as being alone,” according to Nobel. “Being lonely is subjective — it’s the gap between our desired and actual social relations. When that gap is too large, it can significantly impact our public health — loneliness can be as lethal as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.” According to the Journal of the American Heart Association, in 2022, there’s a 30% increased risk of heart attack, stroke, or death for those people who are lonely or socially isolated.
But the public health epidemic isn’t limited to physical well-being. Loneliness is changing the way society operates, everything from online behaviors to mass shootings. “Loneliness changes your brain, and the lonely brain drives lonely behaviors,” Nobel shared. “These lonely individuals become hypersensitive to risk, non-rational or emotional, and impulsive.”
According to Nobel, loneliness manifests in three distinct ways: psychological, societal, and existential. Psychological loneliness stems from a lack of close, supportive relationships and can leave individuals feeling vulnerable and disconnected, even in a crowd. Societal loneliness occurs when people feel excluded or undervalued within larger systems, such as workplaces or communities, amplifying feelings of alienation and insecurity. Existential loneliness, the most profound form, emerges from grappling with questions of purpose and meaning, leaving individuals wondering if their lives matter in an increasingly fragmented and impersonal world.
Nobel says that loneliness can quickly devolve into a "loneliness spiral,” a self-perpetuating cycle where feelings of loneliness lead individuals to withdraw from social interactions, intensifying their sense of isolation. This withdrawal can distort one's social perceptions, making others seem more threatening or unapproachable, further deepening the isolation. Recognizing and interrupting this cycle is crucial to prevent its detrimental effects on well-being.
The good news is that people are finally talking about loneliness, including Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, who released a Surgeon General Advisory on the subject earlier in 2023. The advisory calls attention to the public health crisis of loneliness, isolation, and lack of connection in our country. It lays out a framework for a National Strategy to Advance Social Connection, which has never been implemented before in the United States.
Project UnLonely
Nobel argues that the spiral can be turned around, and leveraging creative arts expression is one of the best remedies. "Your habits of personal creative expression are just as important to your health and well-being as your diet, exercise, and sleep,” he says. “Art is a medicine that requires no prescription."
Nobel’s Foundation for Art & Healing launched Project UnLonely in 2016. It’s a national initiative to tackle the pressing public health crisis of social isolation and chronic loneliness, pursuing three main goals: raising awareness of the health risks associated with loneliness, destigmatizing this common experience, and providing accessible programs to help people reconnect, using arts as a medium for fostering connection.
Project UnLonely’s creative programs are designed to foster connection across communities, especially those most vulnerable to social isolation. Through initiatives like Project UnLonely Films, with award-winning actor Steve Buscemi as ambassador, the organization uses curated short films to spark conversations on loneliness, resilience, and shared human experiences.
It also makes research-based and tested program “toolkits” for those workshops available to a wide variety of community-based organizations (e.g., colleges, community centers, health facilities, museums, faith-based organizations, etc.) so they can deliver high-impact programs directly to the communities they serve. Those workshop toolkits contain program curricula, training tools, and evaluation templates, highlighting the power of creative expression to bridge social divides, support mental well-being, and build a deeper sense of community.
“The arts offer a unique way to engage, inspire, empower, and connect,” Nobel says. “Art can rewire our brain and have sustained physiologic impact. The arts calm us down and put us in a good mood. The arts interact with the same brain regions that manage threats, increasing empathy, compassion, etc. They encourage us to share our stories.”
".. grappling with questions of purpose and meaning, leaving individuals wondering if their lives matter in an increasingly fragmented and impersonal world." Yea..