Doctors have concluded that loneliness causes serious illnesses that make us worse or, worse, shorten our lives. And the World Health Organization warns that we are heading for an epidemic of loneliness. That is why the organization recently established the Commission for Social Connection, which should develop global policies to support single people to reintegrate into society.
The risk of premature death increases by 39% for people who live alone for a long time
The negative consequences of loneliness on health are worrisome and materialize in a wide range of conditions, starting with cardiovascular ones and ending with mental ones, draws the attention of university professor. Dr. Emilian Popovici, vice-president of the Romanian Society of Epidemiology.
“It is considered that the time has come to openly recognize the truth: loneliness does not only hurt hearts, but directly and markedly influences the quality of life!” he says. How big is the problem? “According to the first European Union (EU) loneliness survey, EU-LS 2022, carried out by the Joint Research Center (JRC), around 13% of 20,000 respondents said they feel lonely most or all of the time the time. In older adults, loneliness is linked to a 50% increased risk of developing dementia, a 30% increased risk of coronary heart disease or stroke, and a 26% increased risk of all-cause mortality. It is also associated with a higher risk of heart disease in patients with diabetes. In fact, loneliness is a stronger predictor of cardiovascular disease in people with diabetes than diet, exercise, smoking or depression.”explains Popovici.
Recognizing loneliness as a global public health priority, the World Health Organization (WHO) has formed a Commission on Social Connection, which aims to provide clear evidence to policy makers and practitioners about the best ways to improve social interaction.
One in four adults feel lonely
Dr. Karen DeSalvo, a member of the committee and general manager of health at Google, says that the health care system should focus not only on curing a particular condition, but also on the fact that patients have a hard time recovering if they relapse to social isolation when discharged. Loneliness is quite a debated topic lately. The governments of the countries seem to take the scale of this phenomenon seriously, and the UK appointed, for the first time, in 2018, a minister for loneliness.
The elderly are most affected by social isolation and loneliness because they have lost friends or family members, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But it's not just the elderly who suffer from loneliness, according to new research in 142 countries, almost 1 in 4 adults said they feel very or quite lonely.
Children are not immune to loneliness either, other studies have shown that over half of children and teenagers feel lonely at least some of the time. The Covid-19 pandemic is a possible factor that has exacerbated feelings of loneliness.
What psychologists say
Loneliness can be of two types, either we fail to make a connection, a relationship with another person and for this reason we feel alone, or we have no contact with other people and are isolated, explains psychologist Keren Rosner for “The Truth”.
“Loneliness has two aspects: loneliness, feeling alone, feeling like you don't have a close person with whom to share your troubles, joys, and loneliness itself, where you don't have contact with other people. There are people who are in contact with others, but feel alone because they feel misunderstood, unaccepted, alienated, and those who are alone because they do not have contact with their peers. Regardless of who we are talking about, there is the deep feeling of loneliness that leads to hopelessness, unfounded fears, avoidance behaviors and the conviction of uselessness, that's what an isolated person feels like“, explained Keren Rosner.
In old age, we talk about loneliness caused by withdrawal from social life, withdrawal due to physical infirmities, due to many friends who are no longer alive, and forced loneliness appears, the specialist emphasizes. “At the same time, many no longer meet new people, because with the end of the academic stage, the opportunity to meet other people narrows down a lot”the psychologist believes.
Moreover, Keren Rosner says that “clubs for seniors where they go to socialize are very beneficial”.
But children, teenagers or adults can also suffer from loneliness, and psychologist Keren Rosner explained how members of each category are affected.
“But loneliness is found in all walks of life. There are many children who feel alone, because, in childhood, the need for friendship and acceptance is very strong and important, and there are many children who feel rejected. They dramatically experience the feeling that they are not good, they are not accepted, and they end up with deviant behavior in order to enter certain groups and be accepted. Or they end up experiencing deep sadness, even depression related to the feeling that they are not accepted, that they are different from others”she says.
In turn, teenagers feel rejected if they fail to make friends.
“Adolescence has this peculiarity where belonging to a group is very important. There are many teenagers who, being withdrawn in front of the computer, do not develop social skills, to make friends, relationships, and experience a very deep and painful feeling of loneliness. They end up having some very distorted self-beliefs, precisely because they analyze themselves through the belief that they are rejected, that they will not be able to make friends because they are misfit”the specialist explains.
On the other hand, the psychologist exposes the situations in which adults can feel lonely and why they can lose their friends.
“In adulthood, many single people are the ones who divorce after many years of marriage, and the group of friends closes in on one spouse and the other is neglected. I have met many mature people who feel very lonely because they find at some point that they no longer have the support of their old friends. They find the effort to make new friends difficult. Adults also have the unfounded belief that friendships are made only at a certain stage of life and as time goes by you can no longer make friends”explains Keren Rosner.
Even online interaction is good, from the psychologist's point of view, in the absence of physical interaction, especially if we are talking about an already formed relationship.
Also, social networks can be a means by which we can meet new people, especially if we are talking about a group that connects people with common passions, but it would be good to bring the connected friendships online and in the physical plane.
