Welcome to Wellness on Mass. I'm Dr. Nepal Sapphire, and this is your weekly rundown. I hope everyone

had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I know I certainly did. It was a little bit more low-key than usual.

In fact, this was my first Thanksgiving where I didn't make my own turkey because our kitchen is under

construction. While I do miss the whole process,

I can tell you, seeing as I worked the day before Thanksgiving and I'm here again the day after

Thanksgiving, I can tell you that prepping cleanup, I do not miss it. So I was glad to kind of give

that to someone else this year. Now, Thanksgiving is supposed to be the season of

gratitude, you know, full tables, lots of food, loud families. But the reality is it's a lot

less picture perfect for some. And in fact, according to the U.S. Surgeon General, over half of

American adults report feeling lonely on a regular basis. and this only gets worse throughout the holiday season.

Half of adults. That means whether you're sitting at a crowded table or eating reheated leftovers,

loneliness can show up in surprising ways. And I know we joke about that feeling of FOMO,

fear of missing out, but that feeling

that the world is passing you by is real. And it's not just a feelings conversation. Loneliness

affects our biology. Chronic loneliness actually increases our stress hormones, which can

worsen inflammation, impact cardiovascular health,

and yes, it even disrupts our dopamine pathways.

You know those feel-good pathways, the same pathways responsible for motivation, pleasure,

and reward.

In other words, loneliness literally drains your brain's natural feel-good chemistry.

But here's the good news.

Connection can restore it.

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