Related listening from WBUR's On Point: http://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2018/01/23/the-loneliness-epidemic http://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2018/01/23/the-loneliness-ep

Related listening from WBUR's On Point: http://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2018/01/23/the-loneliness-epidemic http://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2018/01/23/the-loneliness-epidem... Vivek Murthy, former surgeon general, answering to "Why is it important to use that word (epidemic)?" > We have used the word 'epidemic' to refer to infectious diseases that have spread in populations, but what we see with loneliness is that it is impacting far more people than many of the infectious diseases that we have worried about in the past that we have termed epidemics. So, you know, this is an epidemic just by virtue of the sheer number of people that this is impacting and how significantly it has spread in the population. This one is a little older but also relevant: http://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2017/03/23/men-middle-age-friendship http://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2017/03/23/men-middle-age-friend...