Mariel Sagara

Hey, everybody. It's Mariel. Raise your hand if you've been lonely before. I'm guessing if we were in a room together, every hand would be raised. It's a hard thing for a lot of us to admit because we may have gotten messages that that's needy or weak, but everybody gets lonely.

Jeremy Nobel is a primary care physician and public health practitioner at Harvard, and he created an initiative called Project Unlonely, which partners with campuses and communities to address loneliness and social isolation. He says the problem is if we don't satisfy that longing to be with other people, we start to withdraw even more.

That can lead to depression or problems with alcohol and drugs.

But Dr. Nobel says we don't have to end up there. We can interrupt the spiral. NPR health correspondent Alison Aubrey talked to Dr. Nobel recently about his book, Project Unlonely, Healing Our Crisis of Disconnection. On this episode of Life Kit, you'll hear that conversation with practical steps you can take to feel less lonely and open up to connection again.