US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, and Dr. James Doty at George Washington University: Social Connection, Compassion & Youth Mental Health

Amid the ongoing mental health crisis made more acute by the global pandemic, this distinguished panel – US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, and Dr. James Doty, moderated by Emma Seppälä, explores the future of mental health, work, and life in general in the U.S., giving young people tips and tools to be happy now, and into the future. Dr. Seppälä guides the discussion to explore social connection, as it has such a direct impact on our physical and psychological health, and how it ties into and is enhanced by compassion.

The topic of social connection has become most relevant in the last couple years of increased loneliness because of the pandemic and lockdown, but even before the pandemic we knew there was already an epidemic of loneliness around the world. In fact lack of social connection is worse for you than obesity smoking high blood pressure in terms of its impact on longevity and in the last two years, the increased loneliness has really been brought to all of our attention and experience, so it couldn’t be a better time to talk about loneliness and its impact on mental health both in adults and especially in our youth. In fact a recent study from the CDC showed that from 2009-2021 American high school students who say they feel persistent feelings of sadness and helplessness rose from 26 to 44. View this inspiring conversation with distinguished panelists US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, IAHV Founder Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, and Dr. James Doty, moderated by Emma Seppälä.