Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely… (edição: 2020)

An outstanding examination of the modern health crises of loneliness and social isolation, why they are such a danger to human health and community vitality, and steps we can take as individuals to help ourselves, our family and friends, and society as a whole. Filled with lots of great stories and ideas, this is an important book. ( )

The core of this book is the notion that humans evolved to live in social groups with rich, fulfilling human relationships, however in the developed West we often live in comparatively socially isolated situations, and loneliness is rife and destructive. Some of the solutions proffered include mayors who make 'kindness contagious' in their local towns through focusing on enhancing social networks, and Australian men's sheds who create a space for comradeship as well as activity. Andrew Leigh's 2020 book Reconnected: A Community builder's handbook (LaTrobe University Press) is a good adjunct to this book to give a more Australian perspective, but Together is the better of the two books ultimately. Neither author is a work of memorably graceful prose, but the content is worth perusing at a time in history when we're freer to live as we'd like but more lonely than ever before.

Loneliness, Psychology ( )