Even before 2020, chronic loneliness was a private experience of profound anguish that had become a public health crisis. Since then it has reached new heights.
While we can’t cure loneliness the way we can cure strep throat or even cancer, there are concrete, actionable and effective things we can do to manage it and keep it from becoming chronic. For an individual lonely reader, or for anyone who loves, serves, treats, or employs people vulnerable to loneliness in community, work or educational settings, this book will clarify how meaningful reconnection between the self and others begins, and how it can be nourished and sustained.
Loneliness assumes many forms, from enduring physical isolation to feeling rejected because of difference, and it can have devastating consequences for our physical and mental health. As the founder of Project UnLonely, Dr. Jeremy Nobel unpacks our personal and national experiences of loneliness to discover its roots and to show how we can take steps to find comfort and connection.
Dr. Nobel brings together many voices, from pioneering researchers, to leaders in business, education, the arts, and healthcare, to lonely people of every age, background, and circumstance. He discovers that the pandemic isolated us in ways that were not only physical, and that, at its core, a true sense of loneliness results from a disconnection to the self. He clarifies how meaningful reconnection can be nourished and sustained. And he reveals that an important component of the healing process is engaging in creativity, a powerful opportunity he shows us can be accessed by all.
Project UnLonely will not just sound an alarm about the significant, growing negative impact of loneliness on nearly every sector of society, but also offer solace, hope and solutions. Supportive and clear-eyed, this is the book we will take into our new normal and rely on for years to come.
While we can’t cure loneliness the way we can cure strep throat or even cancer, there are concrete, actionable and effective things we can do to manage it and keep it from becoming chronic. For an individual lonely reader, or for anyone who loves, serves, treats, or employs people vulnerable to loneliness in community, work or educational settings, this book will clarify how meaningful reconnection between the self and others begins, and how it can be nourished and sustained.
Loneliness assumes many forms, from enduring physical isolation to feeling rejected because of difference, and it can have devastating consequences for our physical and mental health. As the founder of Project UnLonely, Dr. Jeremy Nobel unpacks our personal and national experiences of loneliness to discover its roots and to show how we can take steps to find comfort and connection.
Dr. Nobel brings together many voices, from pioneering researchers, to leaders in business, education, the arts, and healthcare, to lonely people of every age, background, and circumstance. He discovers that the pandemic isolated us in ways that were not only physical, and that, at its core, a true sense of loneliness results from a disconnection to the self. He clarifies how meaningful reconnection can be nourished and sustained. And he reveals that an important component of the healing process is engaging in creativity, a powerful opportunity he shows us can be accessed by all.
Project UnLonely will not just sound an alarm about the significant, growing negative impact of loneliness on nearly every sector of society, but also offer solace, hope and solutions. Supportive and clear-eyed, this is the book we will take into our new normal and rely on for years to come.
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Reviews
'In this powerful book, Jeremy Nobel shows us how using the arts and creativity as 'a gateway to imagination and empowerment' can not only empower us to combat loneliness and isolation, but also profoundly change our minds and bodies.' - Susan Magsamen, New York Times bestselling author of Your Brain on Art
'Loneliness is a silent epidemic that no one talks about (because there is no one to talk to about it). Jeremy Nobel is the best friend and confidante we all need. Project UnLonely offers practical guidance and scientific context on to how to fight loneliness in individuals and societies. His evidence-based approach elevates artistic expression to its rightful position of being as important as diet, exercise, and sleep.' - Daniel J. Levitin, PhD, New York Times bestselling author of Successful Aging
'Jeremy Nobel not only digs into what causes the terrible anguish of loneliness in a wide variety of contexts, he also gives us a framework for reconnecting with ourselves and others in a meaningful way. We need this book now more than ever!' - Judson Brewer, MD, PhD, New York Times bestselling author of Unwinding Anxiety
'Nobel puts us in the middle of current, high stakes conversations that recognize how loneliness undermines health, as well as our chances for intimacy and democracy. Here he argues a path to connection that includes personal artistic connection - something no chatbot can provide.' - Sherry Turkle, MIT Professor, New York Times bestselling author of Reclaiming Conversation and The Empathy Diaries
'This grand tour of loneliness visits the pain of subjective experience, the insights of science, the threat of technology, and the promise of art to discover solutions to one of the great public health issues of our time. In our hyper-connected but ultra-isolated world, we all need Project UnLonely.' - Thomas Insel, former director of the NIH and author of Healing: Our Path from Mental Illness to Mental Health
'Loneliness and isolation threaten our very existence as social creatures. Jeremy Nobel offers a clear, lucid, and hopeful path toward greater connection through self-acceptance, self-expression, and creativity. This book is essential reading as we recover from the pandemic.' - Robert Waldinger, MD, New York Times bestselling author of The Good Life
'Jeremy Nobel has done us all a great service: He's written a book that destigmatizes loneliness. With ample research and an array of stories, he explains why loneliness is not a private weakness but a public problem. Then shows how curiosity, creativity, and conversation can help cure what ails us. Project UnLonely is a vital read for our times.' - Daniel H. Pink, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Drive, When, and The Power of Regret
'A brilliant book about the most profound of all human challenges facing us today.' - Steve Leder, New York Times bestselling author of For You When I Am Gone
In this powerful book, Jeremy Nobel shows us how using the arts and creativity as 'a gateway to imagination and empowerment' can not only empower us to combat loneliness and isolation, but also profoundly change our minds and bodies.
Loneliness is a silent epidemic that no one talks about (because there is no one to talk to about it). Jeremy Nobel is the best friend and confidante we all need. Project UnLonely offers practical guidance and scientific context on to how to fight loneliness in individuals and societies. His evidence-based approach elevates artistic expression to its rightful position of being as important as diet, exercise, and sleep.
Jeremy Nobel not only digs into what causes the terrible anguish of loneliness in a wide variety of contexts, he also gives us a framework for reconnecting with ourselves and others in a meaningful way. We need this book now more than ever!
Nobel puts us in the middle of current, high stakes conversations that recognize how loneliness undermines health, as well as our chances for intimacy and democracy. Here he argues a path to connection that includes personal artistic connection - something no chatbot can provide.
This grand tour of loneliness visits the pain of subjective experience, the insights of science, the threat of technology, and the promise of art to discover solutions to one of the great public health issues of our time. In our hyper-connected but ultra-isolated world, we all need Project UnLonely.
Loneliness and isolation threaten our very existence as social creatures. Jeremy Nobel offers a clear, lucid, and hopeful path toward greater connection through self-acceptance, self-expression, and creativity. This book is essential reading as we recover from the pandemic.
Jeremy Nobel has done us all a great service: He's written a book that destigmatizes loneliness. With ample research and an array of stories, he explains why loneliness is not a private weakness but a public problem. Then shows how curiosity, creativity, and conversation can help cure what ails us. Project UnLonely is a vital read for our times.
A brilliant book about the most profound of all human challenges facing us today.