Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World

Vivek H. Murthy (b. 1977) is an American physician and the 19th and 21st surgeon general of the United States, serving under Barack Obama from 2014 to 2017, and under Joe Biden. The son of a physician, Murthy became interested in medicine at an early age. As an undergraduate student in biochemistry at Harvard University, Murthy co-founded VISIONS Worldwide, a nonprofit organization promoting HIV/AIDS education in the US and India. During his time at Harvard, Murthy also cofounded the Swasthya Community Health Partnership to help women in India become community health workers and educators. Murthy received his MD and his MBA from Yale University, where he helped spearhead The Healers Art, an elective course on topics that fall outside the traditional parameters of medical school, addressing patient loss, physician burnout, and what it means to be a healer. After Yale, Murthy completed his residency in internal medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston. In his capacity as attending physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Murthy treated thousands of patients and assisted in the education of hundreds of medical students and residents (“Vice Admiral Vivek H. Murthy, MD, MBA,” US Department of Health and Human Services, 24 March 2022). His decades of experience in the medical profession provide unique insights about the impact of loneliness on human health.

As surgeon general, or “America’s Doctor” (the first of Indian descent), Murthy stressed the importance of nutrition and physical activity, in addition to leading the country through several health crises, including the Zika virus and the Flint Michigan water crisis. It is Murthy’s work on addiction and mental health, however, that relates most directly to the content of Together. In 2016, Murthy released the first Surgeon General’s report on alcohol, drugs, and health (“Surgeon General Issues Landmark Report on Alcohol, Drugs and Health.” National Institutes of Health, 17 Nov. 2016). The same year, in an effort to curb the opioid epidemic, he issued a letter to 2.3 million healthcare professionals asking them to reform their prescription practices and to change their perception of those experiencing addiction, arguing that addiction is a “chronic illness” rather than a “moral failing.”

Together combines lessons from Murthy’s professional and personal life. He first noticed the link between loneliness and health when he worked at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. However, the idea of combatting loneliness with social connection stems from his parents, who created strong bonds in various communities in the UK, Canada, and the US, where Murthy spent his formative years. Murthy’s parents were deeply dedicated to their communities. These communities, in turn, reciprocated his parents’ commitment. His parents’ values are the point of departure of Together, a point Murthy stresses in his Conclusion: “I realize, looking back, that [my family] served all along as my guiding light. My parents and my sister have modeled the healing power of human connection throughout my life. Their example has always given me courage and hope” (251). These lessons, however, were not enough to stave off loneliness. Murthy’s personal experiences with loneliness as a child and an adult spurred self-reflection, self-knowledge, and compassion toward himself and others. Loneliness is a global problem. For Murthy, one of the greatest challenges of the modern era is how to build connected lives, strengthen communities, and treat people with kindness and compassion regardless of differences.