It sounds dramatic until you look at the data: being lonely can be as dangerous to your health as smoking.
The research is exceedingly clear. Chronic loneliness increases the risk of premature death by 29% — comparable to smoking 15 cigarettes a day — and raises the likelihood of heart disease, stroke, and dementia. U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy declared loneliness a public health epidemic in May 2023, and the numbers since have only underscored why. As of early 2024, nearly one in three adults reported experiencing feelings of loneliness at least once a week.
This isn’t just a personal or social problem — it is a clinical one.
We tend to think of loneliness as something that happens to specific groups of people: the elderly, the isolated, the disconnected. But loneliness affects people of all ages, and the painful feeling arises from a gap between desired and actual social connections. You can be surrounded by colleagues, active on social media, and still be deeply lonely – because what matters isn’t proximity, it’s meaningful connection.
That distinction matters enormously for those of us in the association management profession. We spend our careers building community for others. We design member engagement strategies, host conferences, champion belonging. And yet, we are not immune to the very isolation we work to solve for our members.
This is exactly why associations like Metro NYSAE aren’t a nice-to-have – they’re a lifeline. I speak from experience when I say that Metro NYSAE is my professional home and safe haven. Over the years, I have built friendships here that go far beyond networking in the traditional sense. These are people I call when I need honest advice, a sounding board, or a trusted colleague who just gets it. That kind of connection – where you can reach out and know someone you trust and respect will pick up – is precisely what the research says protects us.
Strong social connections can lower the risk of serious health problems, foster mental health, and help prevent early death. Building and maintaining a professional network isn’t a career strategy – it’s a health strategy.
For senior association executives, I want to specifically encourage you to consider attending ExecConnect this June. It is one of the rare gatherings designed with exactly this in mind: creating space for meaningful peer connection and professional development among people who share the unique challenges of leading membership organizations. I’m personally looking forward to leaving with new ideas, renewed energy, and – most importantly – deeper relationships with colleagues who make this work less lonely and more sustainable.
We are in a profession that understands the power of community. Let’s make sure we’re applying that wisdom to ourselves.
