We're in the middle of a devastating public health crisis


Most of us are obese, half of our college students report a mental illness, and we're in an epidemic of loneliness. Hardest hit are our kids - in the last few years depression rates for teens have doubled. There is one solution in common for all these problems which is social support.

What caused this?

This is a social shock - rapid change that has upset our health. Shocks are temporary, but they will continue to happen. In fact AI is going to rapidly accelerate them in the near future. As we review the situation below think WeHelp not self-help. We need to be proactive, recognize the pace of change, and build the social support necessary to help us minimizing the negative effects of these shocks.

Reid Hoffman hasn't used these words, but he has been promoting the WeHelp Mindset in Silicon Valley for twenty years. It is social support that has driven our innovation and productivity, and we need to harness this power to deal with the problems we're facing.

Loneliness is dangerous

Prior to the covid pandemic half of Americans reported being lonely. This is absolutely devastating for society as these feelings are associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety, and premature death. The mortality impact of being socially disconnected is similar to that caused by smoking 15 cigarettes a day which means:

The effect of loneliness on mortality is worse than being obese, inactive, or an average smoker.

But we're more connected than we've ever been?

Paradoxically the internet has made things worse. How can that be?

Our kids are being hit hard

We've put a lot of energy into mental health in the last few decades, but things are getting significantly worse. Depression in teens has doubled in the last 10 years.

Going into college mental illness rates have also doubled.

While we've seen across the board increases in anxiety, gen Z have been hit the worst.

When you spend 40+ hours a week on a screen you are sacrificing your time with family and friends.

How are these issues related?

What I'm seeing looking at the data is a tech shock that has reduced our social connections. The internet and social media have been amazing at connecting us, but we evolved with face to face social interactions so we're struggling adjusting to the new paradigm.

A Vicious Circle

As we connect online we are paradoxically becoming more lonely because our bodies and brains are missing the face to face cues of social connection that they are used to. Loneliness increases the risk for obesity, depression, and anxiety while at the same time each of these disorders increases the risk of loneliness. Society is trapped in a self reinforcing negative spiral and our attempts at connection through our screens are alleviating symptoms, but ultimately making it worse.

Here comes AI

When we think about where we are with the data above the looming AI shock is going to be even worse. The pace of technological change is incredibly rapid and AI will continue to deliver multiple shocks at various stages of its growth. Being here in silicon valley in the middle of the AI craze I can tell you that there are some many amazing things coming that will unfortunately cause severe disruptions.

Sadly we haven't been preparing for these disruptions. Very little research was done on the negative effects of screens, and social media prior to them becoming ubiquitous. We need a global focus on mitigating the current crisis and the disruptions that are coming with AI.

What can we do?

We have to help ourselves and the people around us. This will build our social connections, resiliency, and speed up our adjustment to these tech shocks.