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Loneliness isn't just a mental health problem. It's correlated with elevated risk of chronic illnesses like diabetes and heart disease. And loneliness is at epidemic levels, so some doctors and therapists are writing prescriptions for socializing. NPR's Katia Riddle reports.
KATIA RIDDLE, BYLINE: Seven years ago, Jerry Fuselier (ph) was deeply depressed, and he could not see his way out.
JERRY FUSELIER: My mind was just racing, thinking about this or thinking about that. And nothing, nothing was going right.
RIDDLE: He was living in a homeless shelter. Important relationships in his life had fallen apart. He hardly spoke to anyone. But he did start seeing a therapist. She made a suggestion. He was skeptical.
FUSELIER: You wouldn't have been able to tell me I would get involved with a health group (laughter).
RIDDLE: A health group where peer leaders help participants focus on social connection and healthy habits. Fuselier's therapist eventually wore him down.
FUSELIER: And I was so depressed that I would just say yes trying to get her to stop.
RIDDLE: He now credits this program with helping him completely turn his life around.
FUSELIER: I actually opened up and started talking.
RIDDLE: He attends something called Community As Medicine. Once he joined, Fuselier started forming relationships with other people in his group. They got together once a week and talked about healthy eating and exercise, but also just life. Benjamin Emmert-Aronson is a clinical psychologist. He says he and his cofounder started this group because they weren't able to meet some of their patients' needs.
BENJAMIN EMMERT-ARONSON: What they needed most was not one hour with us alone in a room once a week. But they needed a friend to go on walks with them, you know, they needed a community.
RIDDLE: Even when he pointed this need out to his patients, he had no way to help them build social supports.
EMMERT-ARONSON: There's no equivalent of a CVS where you could fill these behavioral prescriptions.
RIDDLE: Now the program partners with clinics.
EMMERT-ARONSON: We run these weekly groups where doctors refer their patients in just like they would refer them to any other group or any other resource.
RIDDLE: Many participants have seen significant drops in things like depression, blood pressure, emergency room visits. Some have even been able to stop taking medications for things like diabetes and depression. The organization is trying to scale up, making the case that this kind of intervention will save insurance companies money. Emmert-Aronson says despite their success, these common sense solutions are not an easy pitch to the American medical system.
EMMERT-ARONSON: I think that big broccoli can't touch big pharma, and that's the reason that it's harder to sell these interventions.
RIDDLE: Some research suggests programs like this are getting some traction. Jill Sonke works at the Florida Center for Arts in Medicine. Sonke has studied social prescriptions all over the world. It's still rare in the U.S.
JILL SONKE: It's just a new idea. And so that lack of awareness among folks in the health care system, so care providers, policymakers, is significant.
RIDDLE: A paper she is publishing with colleagues takes a close look at 23 social prescription programs across the U.S. Sonke says some insurance companies are getting interested. But people need time to acclimate to a radical change like this. Jerry Fuselier is doing his part to spread the word. He has a house now and a job.
FUSELIER: When I take my lunch break, I'll go over to the park, which is across the street. And I'll sit there, and I'll meditate.
RIDDLE: Meditation is one thing he learned in his group. Sometimes people even stop and take pictures. He doesn't mind.
FUSELIER: And then, you know, I might just get up and do some movement. People will be walking past and checking me out.
RIDDLE: He hopes they stop to ask him about it. He's glad to talk.
Katia Riddle, NPR News.
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