THE HEALTHY MINDS STUDY
University of Michigan
The Healthy Minds Study provides a detailed picture of mental health and related issues in college student populations.
U.S. LONELINESS INDEX
Cigna
Generation Z (adults ages 18-22) and Millennials (adults ages 23-37) are lonelier and claim to be in worse health than older generations.
OUR EPIDEMIC OF LONELINESS AND ISOLATION
The U.S. Surgeon General
Our individual relationships are an untapped resource – a source of healing hiding in plain sight. The keys to human connection are simple, but extraordinarily powerful.
PROTECTING YOUTH’S MENTAL HEALTH
The U.S. Surgeon General
Recent national surveys of young people have shown an alarming increase in the prevalence of loneliness since 2009. We now face a national epidemic.
DECLARATION OF A NATIONAL EMERGENCY IN CHILD AND ADOLESCENT MENTAL HEALTH
American Academy of Pediatrics
By 2018, suicide had become the second leading cause of death for youth ages 10-24. This constitutes a national state of emergency.
Learn more about the research linking social media to the epidemic of loneliness.
COMPARING THE HAPPINESS EFFECTS OF REAL AND ONLINE FRIENDS
PLoS ONE
The number of real-life friends is positively correlated with subjective well-being. Online friends have zero or negative correlations with subjective well-being.
6 WAYS SOCIAL MEDIA AFFECTS OUR MENTAL HEALTH
Forbes
The more time people spend on social media, the more socially isolated they perceived themselves to be. And perceived social isolation is one of the worst things for us, mentally and physically.
SOCIAL MEDIA AND YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH
The U.S. Surgeon General
We must acknowledge the growing body of research and increase our collective understanding of the risks associated with social media use, and urgently take action to create safe and healthy digital environments.
HAVE SMARTPHONES DESTROYED A GENERATION?
The Atlantic
More comfortable online that out partying, post-Millennials are on the brink of a mental-health crisis.
THIS IS OUR CHANCE TO PULL TEENAGERS OUT OF THE SMARTPHONE TRAP
The New York Times
Loneliness among students has soared since 2012. It doesn’t have to be like that.
Learn more about why having a robust cohort of real-world friends is so closely correlated with health and happiness.
The science of why friendships keep us healthy
American Psychological Association
American culture prioritizes romance, but psychological science is exploring the human need for platonic relationships and the specific ways in which they bolster well-being
WHY WE NEED FRIENDS WITH SHARED INTERESTS
Greater Good Magazine (The Science of Happiness Podcast)
Per Temple Grandin on the Science of Happiness Podcast: ‘Find stuff you can really get interested in, and then you’re going to find friends through those activities.’
HOW FRIENDSHIP HELPS US TRANSCEND OURSELVES
The New York Times
I’ve come to believe that friendship – not the Facebook kind, but the real kind – is a kind of romance.
WHAT ARE THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF FRIENDSHIP?
Medical News Today
Why friendships are good for our mental and physical health.
MORE AND MORE RESEARCH SHOWS FRIENDS ARE GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH
The Washington Post
A good friendship is a wonderful antidepressant. Relationships are so powerful, we don’t always appreciate the many levels at which they affect us.