The Surgeon General says he's 'deeply disturbed' after talking to Americans. These 3 factors could help

As President Joe Biden’s term comes to an end, so does that of United States Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. In his final message to the country, titled “My Parting Prescription,” Murthy focused on the core themes of purpose, community, and love.

After his six years as surgeon general, the letter, published on the Department of Health and Human Services website on Tuesday, serves as Murthy’s “individual perspective on the root causes of widespread pain and unhappiness he has seen across America and a prescription for how we can cultivate health and fulfillment.” At the heart of that prescription: community.

“As I’ve traveled across America over two terms as Surgeon General, I’ve discovered something deeply disturbing: this sense of community has eroded for too many of us, with alarming consequences,” Murthy wrote.

Research has demonstrated the critical role that community and connection have in longevity and health, and Murthy identified three core pillars that help people build community: relationships, service, and purpose (see below for a visual representation).

Murthy wrote that engaging in these three pillars can “significantly influence health outcomes, including premature mortality, heart disease, depression, and anxiety.”

“We need a fundamental shift in how we build and prioritize community,” he wrote.

Here’s how Murthy defines each of these elements, and how you can start incorporating them into your life to feel more fulfilled, healthier, and happier.

Building relationships

Murthy said that people he’s spoken with across the U.S. have confided in him about how alone and isolated they’ve felt, which was amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic. He wrote that many of these people felt they didn’t have anyone to rely on, which is why human connection is one of Murthy’s core pillars.

He wrote that the relationships we create are an essential part of cultivating community—and they require daily effort. That means setting aside time every day to connect with someone with honesty and authenticity—even if it is only for a short moment.

“Building our relationships with one another requires the commitment to make social connection a priority and the courage to be vulnerable and real with each other,” Murthy wrote.

Relationships depend on individual action—but they are made easier by societal action, Murthy wrote. Investing in social infrastructure to build libraries, community centers, and places for neighbors to gather is also essential in the effort to build community.

Engaging in service

There are multiple ways to think about service, according to Murthy.

“This can be regular volunteering for a community organization or school program or participation in National Service Programs,” Murthy wrote. “But service can also be small acts of kindness toward someone we know or a stranger.”

Murthy has seen a detrimental gap in service and volunteer work. “Participation in formal volunteering has remained low, never rising above 30% since the government started collecting data in 2002,” the letter says.

By participating in service work, Murthy wrote, people are reminded of the value they bring to the world. And it doesn’t have to be complicated.

In his letter, Murthy suggested dropping off food to a friend who is going through a difficult time, checking in on a work colleague who is overwhelmed, or welcoming a new neighbor to the community as small acts of service you can do each day.

Murthy also wrote that governments, businesses, and society can step up as well when it comes to service. That means strengthening national service programs, supporting local initiatives that bring people together to help their community, and workplaces making it easier for people to engage in service together.

“We can create opportunities in our schools and workplaces to make service something we do together and part of our learning and work cultures,” he wrote.

Finding your purpose

The third pillar to Murthy’s prescription is finding your purpose. To do so, you have to ask yourself why you do what you do. In pursuing such soul-searching work, you may be more inclined to do things that strengthen community, Murthy wrote.

“Purpose is the feeling of having an overarching life aim that guides and prioritizes our decisions and actions,” the letter said. “When people have a strong sense of individual purpose anchored in improving [others’] lives, we invest more in one another and are more committed to each other.”

Having a strong sense of purpose is another tool in the longevity toolkit, it turns out. In his letter, Murthy pointed out that a high sense of individual purpose can reduce the risk of early death, dementia, stroke, and lung disease. It can also lower depression and anxiety, and help people cultivate greater resilience during moments of stress.

‘To build community requires love’

While the three pillars of relationships, service, and purpose are essential to fulfillment, these elements are meant to work together to uphold communities. And Murthy is leaving the country with the final virtue on which communities must be built: love.

“Creating community requires an explicit commitment to be a part of each other’s lives and to make those lives better,” he wrote. “As I finish my tenure as Surgeon General, this is my parting prescription, my final wish for all of us: Choose community.”

During his tenure, Murthy wrote, he witnessed the way hatred and anger divided our country and our communities. A community built upon fear and animosity may unite people at first, but that only leads to greater division and harm, the letter said.

“The love required to build community must not be reserved only for close family and friends or those who share our beliefs and life experiences; it must also be extended to neighbors, colleagues, people of different backgrounds, people with whom we disagree, and even people we consider our opponents,” Murthy wrote.

Choosing to turn toward one another can feel difficult in a divided country; but Murthy’s letter argued that choosing love is the only way to build strong, sustainable communities for the health and happiness of Americans.

“Leading with love means seeing love as a virtue to cultivate in ourselves, to encourage in our families, to infuse in our workplaces, schools, and halls of government, to insist on in our leaders, and to shape our public conversation,” he wrote.

“Let us never forget that good people with hearts full of love can change the world.”