Loneliness is, in fact, a public health crisis affecting one-third of adults in the United States, says Jeremy Nobel, MD, an internist and public health crusader at Harvard Medical School in Boston. “We’re more connected — by our phones and computers — but we’re lonelier than ever before,” says Dr. Nobel. His concern stems from the fact that loneliness is as lethal as smoking 15 cigarettes a day for years on end. (A 2010 Brigham Young University study found that social isolation could shorten a person’s life by 15 years — roughly the same as the health consequences of smoking 15 cigarettes daily.) But Nobel believes that he can help solve the problem of loneliness. About 15 years ago, Nobel, who’s also a poet, established The Foundation for Art and Healing. The goal was to promote art as a kind of therapy to help people suffering from chronic diseases and trauma, including veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The foundation’s early mission was to increase awareness about the effects of loneliness, reduce the stigma attached to it, and connect people with programs where they could make art. Nobel quickly discovered that creating art — whether it be through writing, music, visual arts, crocheting, knitting, or even cooking — was more powerful than he’d initially thought.
Making Art, Making Connections
As the foundation started to evaluate the effects of its work, Nobel was struck by the number of participants who reported that their efforts in making art had in turn made them feel more connected to other people. “I realized the act of creating art can enhance everyone’s lives, not just those who are ill,” he says. From there, Nobel shifted the foundation’s focus to raising awareness about the problem of loneliness, and to offering resources and programs to help combat it. The result is the UnLonely Project, which the foundation launched in 2016.
The UnLonely FilmFest
Among other efforts, the UnLonely Project hosts an interactive film festival, which features short films focused on different groups and demographics, such as immigrants, members of the military, minorities, older adults, students, and the LGBTQ community. The UnLonely FilmFest organizers encourage people to watch the short films and then explore each film’s related activities and engage in discussion with other spectators. “Poetry and painting are examples of social acts of an isolated person,” says Nobel. But, he adds, when people paint, they imagine viewers. When they write poetry, they imagine readers. According to previous research, social isolation is a condition that can be quantified by measuring things like how many friends a person has, what kind of social support he or she has, and the number of social activities he or she participates in on a weekly basis. Loneliness, however, is different. “It’s subjective, and it’s the perception of the gap that exists between the social connections you have and the ones you want,” says Nobel.
Health Risks of Loneliness
Both social isolation and loneliness increase the risk of premature death by about 30 percent — comparable with the risk of dying from obesity-related illnesses, he adds. Loneliness can depress the immune system, cause spikes in blood pressure and trigger the release of cortisol, the so-called fight-or-flight hormone. Over time, exposure to these kinds of stressors can contribute to a range of diseases, including cancer and heart disease. There are certain communities of people who are at the greatest risk of experiencing loneliness, including the elderly, caregivers, veterans, and students between the ages of 18 and 24. Actor Evan Horowitz counted himself in the latter group when he was an undergraduate student at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. “I had been told college would be the best four years of my life, but I felt a kind of loneliness and apathy that I had never felt before,” says Horowitz, now 26. When Horowitz joined a theater group, he says, “I found a way to express myself and I found a network of friends.” Horowitz is pursuing an MFA and works with the Foundation for Art & Healing. “It’s exciting to me, as an artist, and especially in a world where we are unfunded and unsupported, to have something to point to and say, ‘Our work helps heal people and bring them together,’” he says. The annual UnLonely FilmFest launch takes place on May 29, 2019, at the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater in New York City. The 40-plus short films will also be available to stream for free. Films from the first two festivals are viewable at the Foundation for Art & Healing website. The goal of the UnLonely Project, says Nobel, is to raise awareness of the increasing incidence and harmful effects of loneliness, and reduce the stigma associated with it. “Loneliness doesn’t just make you miserable,” he says. “It can kill you.”
