As US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy nears the end of his second term as the nation’s doctor, a final diagnosis of his patient suggests that a great deficiency of connectivity has led to a poor prognosis for America’s overall health and well-being.
To treat the “widespread pain and unhappiness” that has left the country deeply unwell, he says, his “parting prescription” for the American people is to cultivate a strong sense of community to help themselves and others.
“Community is a powerful source of life satisfaction and life expectancy,” Murthy wrote in an essay published Tuesday. “It’s where we know each other, help each other, and find purpose in contributing to each other’s lives.”
Building community creates fulfillment, he said, and there are three key elements that make it possible: connection with others through relationships, acts of service to help others and a sense of purpose in life – all pursued through love, instead of fear or hate.
“Relationships, service, and purpose are the time-tested triad of fulfillment that stands in contrast to wealth, fame, and power which define the modern-day triad of success,” Murthy wrote.
“The triad of success is focused on the individual. The triad of fulfillment connects us with something bigger than the individual,” the surgeon general said. “The triad of success may earn us praise and possessions. The triad of fulfillment gives us meaning and belonging.”
The US surgeon general typically serves as the voice of the administration’s public health policy while promoting their own agenda of issues that they feel are important to the health of American people.
This final reflection from Murthy captures themes from his work under multiple administrations, first from 2014 to 2017 under Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump and a second term under President Joe Biden since 2021.
His initiatives have focused on the addiction crisis, youth mental health, loneliness and isolation, workplace well-being, parental stress and social media’s impact on youth.
“Social media has turbocharged a culture of constant comparison that too often undermines our self-worth and makes us feel dissatisfied with our lives,” Murthy wrote Tuesday. “Trying to fill our internal void with approval and accolades and addictive forces isn’t helping.”
Although Murthy’s latest reflection pulls from personal experience and is not meant to be a scientific report, it does cite about two dozen studies that help show how social connectivity can affect physical and mental health.
“Being socially disconnected increases our risk of heart disease, dementia, depression, anxiety, and premature death,” he wrote, yet about a third of adults and half of young people experience loneliness.
Individual purpose, anchored in helping others, can also strengthen physical and mental health, Murthy said.
“A high sense of individual purpose may reduce the risk of early death as well as stroke, lung disease, and dementia for some. Research also shows that people with a strong sense of purpose may experience lower levels of depression and anxiety and greater resilience in the face of stress,” he wrote, citing five different studies.
Sign up here to get The Results Are In with Dr. Sanjay Gupta every Friday from the CNN Health team.
The Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated feelings of loneliness and isolation in the US, Murthy said, but divisiveness has been eroding the country’s well-being for even longer.
“It is fueling not only illness and despair on an individual level, but also pessimism and distrust across society which have all made it painfully difficult to rise together in response to common challenges,” he wrote. “As I finish my tenure as Surgeon General, this is my parting prescription, my final wish for all of us: Choose community.”
Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, a New York family physician and Fox News medical contributor, is Trump’s pick to replace Murthy as surgeon general in his new administration. Several health experts have said that she’s a reasonable choice but that she may be tested with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist, as Trump’s pick to helm the US Department of Health and Human Services.
