In 2023, the U.S. Surgeon General called loneliness andisolation a “public health crisis” as deadly as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.  And, according to the Cigna U.S. Loneliness Index, nearly half of U.S. adults report experience loneliness on a regular basis.

So, in our high-tech age of hyper-connectivity, where virtually everyone has a cell phone in their pocket, what exactly is causing this public health crisis?  And what can we do about it?