People come to wellness groups for answers and stay for belonging

Key takeaways

• Social connection is a health factor: a 2010 review of 148 studies found that people with stronger relationships had 50% better odds of survival over about seven and a half years.
• The share of U.S. adults using approaches such as yoga and meditation nearly doubled in 20 years, from 19.2% in 2002 to 36.7% in 2022.
• People often arrive for one reason and stay for another: in a survey of more than 500 yoga practitioners, over 60% said their main motivation had changed.
• Belonging can come with pressure, so watch for sales pitches, us-versus-them thinking and advice to drop proven treatment.
• Use the checklist in this article to judge whether a group feeds your health or drains your time, money and trust.

Researchers who studied 112 recorded medical visits found something many patients already suspected. Clinicians asked patients what brought them in during only 36% of those visits¹.

When clinicians did ask, they often cut in fast. In about two-thirds of those visits, the clinician interrupted after a median of 11 seconds¹. Patients who got to finish needed a median of only 6 seconds to say what was wrong¹.

Now picture a different room. It’s a Tuesday-night herb circle, or a yoga class that ends with tea, or an online group for people with the same stubborn diagnosis. Someone asks how you are, and then waits for the answer.

That contrast explains a lot about why wellness communities grow. People rarely join just to collect facts. They come for company, for being believed, for shared values, for hope and for practical help.

Those needs are not soft extras. In 2023, the U.S. Surgeon General warned that a lack of social connection can carry a risk of early death similar to smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day². Here is what research says about why people join, what belonging does for health, and how to tell a group that nourishes you from one that costs you.

Loneliness is a health risk, not just a bad mood

The Surgeon General’s 2023 advisory reported that about half of U.S. adults said they had experienced loneliness². Gallup measured something narrower in 2024: 20% of adults said they felt lonely “a lot of the day” yesterday, or about 52 million people³.

The two numbers differ because they measure different things. The advisory’s figure counts people who reported loneliness in national surveys. Gallup’s asks only about a single day. Both describe a lot of people.

The health link is well studied. In 2010, researchers led by Julianne Holt-Lunstad pooled 148 studies covering 308,849 people followed for an average of 7.5 years⁴. People with stronger social relationships had 50% better odds of being alive at the end⁴.

When studies measured relationships in richer ways, looking at a person’s roles and ties together, the advantage rose to 91% better odds⁴. The study’s summary compared the effect to well-known risks such as smoking and drinking, and found it larger than physical inactivity or obesity⁴.

These were observational studies, which follow people over time without assigning them to groups. They show a strong and repeated link, not proof that friendship alone adds years. Still, the pattern held across many populations.

The World Health Organization added a global estimate in June 2025. Its Commission on Social Connection reported that about 1 in 6 people worldwide are affected by loneliness, which is linked to more than 871,000 deaths a year, or about 100 every hour⁵. WHO also said lonely people are about twice as likely to become depressed⁵.

It helps to know two terms. Social isolation means having few relationships or group memberships. Loneliness is the painful gap between the connection you want and the connection you have². You can be isolated without feeling lonely, and lonely in a crowded room.

The old gathering places emptied, and new ones filled in

Americans spend far less time together than they used to. The Surgeon General’s report found that in-person time with friends fell from about 60 minutes a day in 2003 to 20 minutes in 2020².

The share of adults who belonged to a church, synagogue or mosque dropped from 70% in 1999 to 47% in 2020². In 2018, only 16% of Americans said they felt very attached to their local community².

Over the same years, natural and mind-body practices grew. A 2024 analysis by the National Institutes of Health found that the share of U.S. adults using at least one of seven approaches rose from 19.2% in 2002 to 36.7% in 2022⁶. Yoga rose from 5% to 15.8%, and meditation from 7.5% to 17.3%⁶.

Spiritual hunger did not disappear with church membership. A 2023 Pew Research Center survey of 11,201 adults found that 70% consider themselves spiritual in some way, and 22% describe themselves as spiritual but not religious⁷.

Put those trends together and a pattern appears. For many people, a yoga studio, meditation group or herbalism class now does part of what a congregation or club once did. It offers familiar faces, shared rituals and a reason to show up every week. That is an inference from the trends, not something one study has proven, but it fits what people say about why they stay.

Five needs wellness communities meet

We found no large survey asking members of herb circles or online healing groups why they joined. The closest evidence comes from studies of yoga users and national health surveys. Together they point to five needs.

Belonging

A University of Connecticut team put questions to more than 500 people who practice or teach yoga. The usual starting point was the body: flexibility, fitness or an injury that needed healing⁹.

Over time, the reasons moved. More than 60% of respondents said their main motivation was no longer the one that first brought them to the mat⁹. Those who stayed pointed to stress relief, a sense of belonging and self-discovery, with spirituality named most often⁹. The shift was even more common among teachers, at over 85%⁹.

Being believed

Feeling dismissed is common in medicine, and it is not evenly spread. A 2022 KFF survey found that 29% of women said a provider had dismissed their concerns, compared with 21% of men¹⁰. And 15% of women said a provider didn’t believe they were telling the truth¹⁰.

Among women ages 18 to 35 with a recent visit, 46% reported at least one negative interaction with a provider¹⁰. Add the 11-second interruption, and it is easy to see why a group that listens feels like relief¹.

Shared values

In the 2012 National Health Interview Survey, more than 70% of yoga users said one reason they practiced was that yoga treats mind, body and spirit as one⁸. People want care that matches how they see health. A group that shares that view feels like home.

Hope and a sense of control

In that same survey, over 80% of yoga users credited the practice with lowering their stress. Close to two-thirds said it pushed them to exercise more often, and roughly 4 in 10 said it nudged them toward healthier eating⁸.

People who took supplements described smaller gains. Under a quarter said their pills brought less stress, better sleep or a brighter mood⁸. Josephine Briggs, then director of the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, offered one explanation: benefits may be easier to feel when you take an active part in your health⁸.

Practical help

Much of natural health is skill: how to brew a tea, cook a whole-food meal, adjust a pose or read a supplement label. These skills pass most easily from person to person. A community gives you people to learn from and practice with.

What belonging does for health, according to group research

One team of psychologists has spent years testing whether belonging to groups protects mental health. Two of its studies stand out.

The first used national population data on more than 5,000 people followed for two to four years. In 2013, a team led by Tegan Cruwys reported that people with fewer group memberships were more likely to become depressed later¹¹. For people who were already depressed and belonged to no groups, joining one group cut their risk of relapse by 24%, and joining three cut it by 63%¹¹.

That study was observational, so it cannot prove that the groups caused the improvement. It did account for age, self-rated health, social class and earlier depression¹¹.

The second was a randomized controlled trial, where people are assigned by chance to one group or another. In Brisbane, Australia, 120 adults with psychological distress were assigned to a structured program called GROUPS 4 HEALTH or to their usual care¹².

The program met in person, in groups of five to nine, for five sessions over about two months¹². Loneliness dropped much more in the program group, social anxiety eased, and members made fewer visits to their general practitioner¹². The follow-up lasted only about two months, so long-term effects are unknown.

Groups also shape habits, in both directions. A study of 12,067 people in the Framingham Heart Study found that a person’s chance of becoming obese rose 57% when a friend became obese¹³. Neighbors living close by showed no such effect¹³. What your circle does can shape what you do.

What the evidence says about community and health

Claim	Evidence level	What it rests on
Strong relationships are linked to longer life	Strong evidence (for a link)	148 studies and 308,849 people4, consistent with WHO’s 2025 report5
Joining groups lowers the risk of depression relapse	Promising but early	One large observational study11
A structured group program eases loneliness	Promising but early	One randomized trial of 120 people with short follow-up12
Health habits spread through friendships	Promising but early	One long-running network study13
A group’s favorite remedy works because members say so	Not enough evidence	Testimonials are not trials
Alternative medicine alone can safely replace standard treatment for curable cancer	Evidence says no, or unsafe	Death risk about 2.5 times higher15

The pressures that can come with belonging

Belonging is powerful, and powerful things can be misused. Plenty of yoga studios, herb circles and support groups never cross these lines. Three pressures are worth noticing when they appear.

Money. The Federal Trade Commission says most people who join legitimate multilevel marketing companies make little or no money, and some lose money¹⁴. The FTC describes these businesses as selling to family and friends and recruiting others to do the same¹⁴. When your wellness circle doubles as a sales team, every friendship carries a price tag.

Us versus them. Habits can spread through friendships¹³, and it’s reasonable to expect that attitudes travel the same way. A healthy group can disagree with medicine on some points and still let members ask questions. An unhealthy one treats any doubt as betrayal.

Dropping proven care. Yale researchers studied 280 patients with curable breast, prostate, lung or colorectal cancer who chose alternative medicine alone and compared them with 560 similar patients who received standard treatment¹⁵. Those who used only alternative medicine had about 2.5 times the risk of death, and for breast cancer the risk was more than five times higher¹⁵.

That study does not show that any community caused those choices. It does show the stakes. A group that says “alongside your treatment” is offering support. A group that says “instead of your treatment” is asking you to bet your life on its belief.

Community is one of the oldest natural-health practices

Long before clinics, healing happened among people. Herbal knowledge moved through kitchens and gardens. Recovery happened at home, surrounded by family and neighbors.

The research above suggests that tradition got something right. Connection is not a side benefit of a healthy life. It is part of one.

Honoring that tradition means expecting a lot from the groups you join. A good community respects your judgment and your autonomy. It makes you more capable, not more dependent. It welcomes your other sources of care, including your doctor, instead of asking you to choose.

A healthy-community checklist

Use this scorecard for any group, in person or online. Give each question 2 points for “yes,” 1 for “sometimes” and 0 for “no.”

1. Can members ask questions, including skeptical ones, without being shamed?
2. Are leaders open about what they sell, earn or are paid to promote?
3. Can you take part fully without buying anything?
4. Does the group encourage you to keep your clinician informed?
5. Do members share sources, not only stories?
6. Do people keep “this worked for me” separate from “this will work for you”?
7. Can you take a break or leave without guilt or pressure?
8. Do you still have friends and activities outside the group?
9. When someone describes an emergency, does the group point them to real help?
10. Do you usually leave feeling steadier, not more afraid?

How to read your score: 16 to 20 points suggests a healthy community. A score of 10 to 15 means watch the weak spots and talk about them. Below 10, consider whether the group is serving you.

When to get help

If loneliness has turned into hopelessness or thoughts of self-harm, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. In an emergency, call 911.

If a group pressured you into a business opportunity or purchases you regret, you can report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and to your state attorney general¹⁴.

If a product you got through a group made you sick, call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222 and report it to the FDA’s MedWatch program. And before you change any treatment based on group advice, talk with the clinician who prescribed it.

Questions readers ask

The bottom line

People seldom join a wellness community just for information. They come because they want to be heard, to share values and to feel less alone, and the research on connection says those are real health needs. Good groups meet them well.

Choose communities the way you would choose a remedy: by what they do for you over time. The best ones leave you calmer, more capable and still connected to the rest of your life and care. If a group asks you to give those up, it is asking for too much.

Related reading

• Online health groups offer reach, while in-person groups have stronger evidence
• What to say when a doctor isn’t taking you seriously
• Living with a condition that isn’t going away
• Health coaching is real, unregulated, and easy to get wrong

Sources

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2. U.S. Surgeon General. “Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation: The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory on the Healing Effects of Social Connection and Community.” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2023. hhs.gov
3. Gallup. “Daily Loneliness Afflicts One in Five in U.S.” Gallup, 2024. news.gallup.com
4. Holt-Lunstad J, Smith TB, Layton JB. “Social Relationships and Mortality Risk: A Meta-analytic Review.” PLOS Medicine, 2010. journals.plos.org
5. World Health Organization. “Social connection linked to improved health and reduced risk of early death.” WHO, 2025. who.int
6. National Institutes of Health. “NIH analysis reveals a significant rise in use of complementary health approaches, especially for pain management.” NIH, 2024. nih.gov
7. Pew Research Center. “Spirituality Among Americans.” Pew Research Center, 2023. pewresearch.org
8. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. “Americans who practice yoga report better wellness, health behaviors.” NIH, 2015. nccih.nih.gov
9. University of Connecticut. “From Resolution to Ritual: Why People Start and Stick With Yoga.” UConn Today, 2015. today.uconn.edu
10. KFF. “Nearly Half of Young Women Report Negative Interactions with Health Care Providers.” KFF, 2023. kff.org
11. Cruwys T, Dingle GA, Haslam C, Haslam SA, Jetten J, Morton TA. “Social group memberships protect against future depression, alleviate depression symptoms and prevent depression relapse.” Social Science & Medicine, 2013. ideas.repec.org
12. Haslam C, Cruwys T, Chang MX-L, et al. “GROUPS 4 HEALTH reduces loneliness and social anxiety in adults with psychological distress: Findings from a randomized controlled trial.” Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 2019. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
13. Christakis NA, Fowler JH. “The Spread of Obesity in a Large Social Network over 32 Years.” New England Journal of Medicine, 2007. hcp.hms.harvard.edu
14. Federal Trade Commission. “Multi-Level Marketing Businesses and Pyramid Schemes.” FTC Consumer Advice. consumer.ftc.gov
15. Johnson SB, Park HS, Gross CP, Yu JB. “Use of Alternative Medicine for Cancer and Its Impact on Survival.” Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 2018. academic.oup.com