It’s been called the friendship recession. And it’s having devastating consequences on our emotional, mental and physical health. Recent surveys indicate that Americans have significantly fewer close friends on average and are much more likely to say they have no close friends than in previous decades. The friendship recession is so severe that U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy has declared that the surge in Americans’ loneliness and isolation is a public health crisis. In May, Murthy...

In 1938, researchers at Harvard University asked a vital question that remains highly relevant 85 years later: What are the factors that determine if a person leads a healthy and happy life? To find answers, the researchers began a long-term study involving 268 Harvard sophomores, whose ranks included a future president, John F. Kennedy. Eventually, the participants’ spouses and children were added to the study, which continues to this day. What did the scientists determine, after eight...

It’s been called the friendship recession. And it’s having devastating consequences on our emotional, mental and physical health. Recent surveys indicate that Americans have significantly fewer close friends on average and are much more likely to say they have no close friends than in previous decades. The friendship recession is so severe that U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy has declared that the surge in Americans’ loneliness and isolation is a public health crisis. In May, Murthy...

In 1938, researchers at Harvard University asked a vital question that remains highly relevant 85 years later: What are the factors that determine if a person leads a healthy and happy life? To find answers, the researchers began a long-term study involving 268 Harvard sophomores, whose ranks included a future president, John F. Kennedy. Eventually, the participants’ spouses and children were added to the study, which continues to this day. What did the scientists determine, after eight...