Episode 17 | Overcoming Loneliness | Guest: Chelsea Szabo, Founder of Verbal Courage, Executive Coach & Cancer Survivor

What Nobody Tells Us

Dr. Vivek Murthy, the U.S. Surgeon General, has officially diagnosed loneliness, isolation and lack of connection as an epidemic.

In the last month alone, headlines including "Nearly 1 in 4 Adults Feel Lonely," "24 Hours in an Invisible Epidemic," "We Know the Cure to Loneliness. So Why Do We Suffer?", and "WHO looks for treatment for epidemic of loneliness" have addressed one of most pervasive issues facing our world today.

While the current causes of loneliness are up for debate (Is it the internet? The pandemic? Unprocessed trauma?), loneliness is it not a new issue in the U.S. "Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revivial of American Community," one of the formative books about loneliness, was published in 2001.

Today's guest, Chelsea Szabo, is a cancer survivor and founder of executive coaching program, Verbal Courage. Chelsea is no stranger to loneliness and isolation; at the age of 19, she was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease and found herself in a space where nobody understood her or her situation. She had the world around her with family and loved ones, but didn't have the tools to know how to connect in the depth of her treatment and loneliness. She has been interested in loneliness and how to remedy it ever since, performing a deep investigation into the roots and solutions of loneliness and recently sharing it as part of Verbal Courage's curriculum.

Chelsea and I talked through her experience as well as her research findings on loneliness. Her unique perspective as a former patient and a current coach sets the stage for an empathetic, informed and optimistic conversation around:

• How her diagnosis at age 19 with Hodgkin's disease left her understanding a new level of loneliness
• The definition and societal, personal and professional causes of loneliness
• Physical, emotional and mental signs and symptoms of loneliness
• Misperceptions around who is susceptible to loneliness and how to overcome it
• Breaking down the stigma around loneliness and vulnerability
• How to parent children to both get and stay connected to themselves
• How to overcome a fear of stillness in an effort to know yourself deeper
• The false narratives your mind creates in the depths of loneliness
• The types of connection everyone has access to that will help combat loneliness
• Practical steps someone can use when they're triggered back into loneliness
• Resources to help you get through loneliness
• Why loneliness can actually be a gift in your life

Resources:

• Chelsea's EMPOWERSHIP Loneliness Training
• Chelsea's Verbal Courage Coaching Program
• Chelsea's Joyful Forties YouTube channel
• The U.S. Surgeon General's Announcement of The Loneliness Epidemic

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