Have you ever felt lonely, and looked at how your it felt inside your body? Perhaps you felt stress, anxiety or like a foundational part of being alive was missing? That feeling, like hunger or thirst evolved to signal a threat to our survival. 

As humans, we evolved in community. People gathered in small tribes to support one another, to provide protection, warmth, food, and care for children. Given our nature, being completely autonomous and independent is a threat to survival. Our basic need to be interdependent remains even though the backdrop of humanity has transformed over centuries.

A 2020 Cigna survey showed that more than three in five working American adults are lonely, and rising numbers report feeling left out,  is understood or as though they lack companionship 1. These findings contribute to the sense that we are facing a “loneliness epidemic,” as described by former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. Loneliness and social isolation have been linked to sleep loss, ill health, dementia, premature death, and even heartbreak—literally 2. These effects on our health are as harmful to our life expectancy as a 15-cigarette-a-day smoking habit 3.

REFERENCES (1. Cigna, 2020; (2. Cacioppo & Cacioppo, 2018; Holt-Lunstad, 2017; Holt-Lunstad, Smith, & Layton, 2010 (3. Holt-Lunstad et al., 2010.

LINK TO FULL REPORT: https://www.hksinc.com/how-we-think/research/connecting-irl-how-the-built-environment-can-foster-social-health/