Last year, U.S. Surgeon General Dr.
Vivek Murthy declared a national loneliness and social isolation epidemic throughout the country. He warned that about half of U.S.
adults are experiencing considerable levels of loneliness, which can affect physical, mental and societal health. SEE ALSO: Loneliness and social isolation | What to know and how to help promote social connection To mark Loneliness Awareness Week from June 10 to June 16, Murthy spoke to ABC News stations across the U.S.
about the causes and solutions for combating feelings of isolation. MURTHY: Loneliness is like hunger or thirst. It's a feeling that we experience when something we're lacking for survival is missing from our life.
And if we respond to it, relatively quickly, it may go away. But just like hunger or thirst, it's when it persists for a long period of time, when we're not able to figure out how to address it, that is when we start to worry. Loneliness is a subjective feeling -- that the connections that we need in our life are greater than the connections we actually have.
MURTHY: We all may feel temporarily lonely from time to time. If I go on a trip, for example, without my wife and my two kids, I may miss them, and I may feel lonely if I don't really know anyone in the work trip that I'm going on. But if I come home, then I may feel better because I reconnect with them.
SEE ALSO: Doctors say loneliness and social isolation should be discussed in health visits Similarly, if I have a best friend w.
