House Calls Podcast

How Will You Connect?

Dr. Vivek Murthy: Hello and welcome to House Calls. I'm Vivek Murthy and I have the honor of serving as U.S. Surgeon General. This week, we're doing a bonus episode on building social connection. Hello House Calls listeners. This week we're doing a bonus episode in the spirit of building more social connection. As we head into the holiday season, this is a great time to build our connection muscles. So my office has launched a national challenge To help you get started, I'm answering a handful of questions. Just like we need water and food, we need social connection to survive and to be healthy. Social connection is not just an antidote to loneliness. It's also a powerful force that enhances our mental health. When we struggle with loneliness and isolation, it can increase our risk of depression and anxiety. Social connection helps protect us against these conditions. I feel so strongly about the importance of social connection, that back in May 2023, I released the first ever Surgeon General's Advisory on loneliness and isolation. You can read more about it at: SurgeonGeneral.gov/connection We're calling it the 5-for-5 Challenge. The idea is to take five actions over five days to create and deepen our social connection. There are many ways to do this. To start, we're suggesting these three ways: express gratitude, offer support, and ask for help. I particularly love connecting through gratitude because remembering people I'm grateful for reminds me that I'm not alone. It reminds me that there are people who care about me and have my back. Also, showing gratitude can be a very simple act that can just take a minute. As you take the challenge, you can visit SurgeonGeneral.gov/challenge There, you'll find some tools, including a deck of cards with lots of ideas for creative ways to connect. No. It can just take 30 seconds a day to connect with someone. Think about a time, perhaps someone you hadn't heard from in a while had reached out. Think about how surprising and uplifting that simple message was. That's what you can do for someone else through this challenge. I visited thousands of students at universities all across the country who are taking part in the challenge. And now all of you can too. I encourage you to pair up with a family member or friend to take this challenge. Maybe there are colleagues at work, classmates or neighbors. The more the merrier. I've done the challenge and even though I talk about social connection a lot, I've been reminded in doing so, how small acts of gratitude and service can go a long way to helping us feel more connected. I'll be sharing some of my challenge experiences on the Surgeon General accounts on social media. I hope the challenge will remind you of the power and importance of human connection. I also hope that the experience of connecting for five days will make it easier for you to keep these practices in your life. Each active connection helps you and another person. Imagine millions of people doing this challenge and how many people will benefit in the end. In the spirit of connecting, I have two asks of you. Number one, ask someone else to join you in the 5-for-5 Connection Challenge. And number two, write to us and tell us your stories of connection. Connection is an invitation to creativity. We're curious to hear all the ways you're connecting and what flows from them. You can email us at: HouseCalls@HHS.gov and someone from the team will respond. Take care and please take time to connect. Join me for our next episode of House Calls with Dr. Vivek Murthy.