1 19 million epidemic.
Of the 65.6 million people in Britain, more than 9 million people say they often feel lonely, and about 200,000 elderly people can't talk to their friends once a month. Some researchers believe that loneliness should be regarded as a public health problem. According to the British Red Cross, loneliness is like an "invisible epidemic", which affects people of all ages in different periods of life. Some analysts believe that with the development of social networks, everyone's attention is focused on mobile phones, which makes people more isolated in public places.
The latest report released by the Loneliness Committee shows that 9 million of the 66 million British people often feel lonely, and more than 200,000 elderly people talk to 1 relatives and friends 1 time at most every month.
According to the "End Loneliness Campaign" initiated by the London School of Economics, one in every 10 elderly people in Britain will be in a state of long-term loneliness.
Another statistic also shows that more than half (2 million people) of the British elderly over 75 live alone, and most of them don't even participate in any social activities for days or weeks.
In addition to the elderly, the problem of loneliness among British children is also very prominent, and the problem of loneliness is showing a trend of younger age. According to the statistics of the National Association for the Prevention of Child Abuse, a British children's charity organization, there were 4,063 helplines for lonely children in 2065. Every day, 438+065,438+0 British children called the helpline because of loneliness, and some of them were only 6 years old. The same problem also appeared in the new mother. Research shows that one third of newborn mothers will feel lonely.
2. Why do you feel lonely?
In Britain, loneliness seems to be a taboo. Many people are embarrassed to admit that they feel lonely, gradually give up fighting against it, and finally get stuck on an island.
Joan, a 76-year-old British man, said that loneliness is hard to say, especially in front of family and neighbors. She can use the ipad to keep in touch with the crowd and enjoy the sense of dedication through voluntary activities in the church, but she lacks a place where she can feel accompanied.
According to the statistics of the Loneliness Committee, three-quarters of lonely people in Britain often don't know where to seek support. With the expansion of geographical distance, the instability of marriage and the increase of working hours, the family pattern in Britain has also changed, and the problem of loneliness has become more difficult. According to ONS statistics, the proportion of adults living alone in England and Wales has almost doubled, from 1973 to 20 1 1, and from 9% to 16%. /kloc-Of the 0/6% population, 28% are between 35 and 54 years old. And a study shows that compared with people who live with their families, people who work alone have a risk of depression as high as 80%.
Some researchers say that loneliness is equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Lonely people, the probability of premature death is higher than others 1/3, and the risk of Alzheimer's disease is higher. Jane Cummings, chief nursing officer of the National Health Service (NHS), said that loneliness has destructive and even life-threatening effects on people of all ages. But for the vulnerable groups, social isolation and cold weather are fatal.
As social animals, human beings want to find a companion in any occasion, and they want someone to accompany them to eat, play games, go to work, cross the road, watch TV dramas, listen to concerts and talk nonsense from all over the world, even if it is only at the other end of the network cable.
This is probably why the barrage language that often appears in the videos of barrage websites is-hello? Living in the hustle and bustle of the internet, has the loneliness really disappeared? In the end, you are only one step away from loneliness.
But you know, the internet has created a more special loneliness-this kind of loneliness belongs to the person standing in the middle of the network bustle. The Internet is not an antidote to loneliness, but it may have created greater loneliness. Liveliness and loneliness were born in the same place. In the middle of the extremely noisy stage, an extremely lonely person stood and sang for a lonely person at the other end of the screen.
The internet age has brought all the social dividends. Those seemingly lively days are nothing more than inflation brought by science and technology, and the absolute value of loneliness has never changed.
3. How to prevent loneliness?
In the rapidly approaching aging society, not only the life and medical care of the elderly need to be guaranteed, but also their mental state needs attention. A survey of nearly 14000 urban elderly people found that they all felt lonely, depressed and had nowhere to talk about their troubles. Although "often go home to see" has been written into the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of the Elderly (Revised Draft), "Don't let parents feel lonely" needs more affection and care from society and children.
With the fierce social competition, more and more children in China have to leave their parents to work and settle in other places, resulting in a huge group of left-behind empty nesters. "Loneliness, like a sword straight into the old man's chest. In the long run, the accumulation of too many negative emotions will cause their depression tendency, and when they are serious, they choose to end their lives. " Li Juan, director of the Research Center for Elderly Psychology of the Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, was very saddened by this. She told reporters that there are "three circles" in people's social relations, and the outermost circle is the people they meet in daily life, which has little effect on personal feelings; The middle circle is colleagues at work, and the innermost circle is immediate family members.
After retirement, the elderly mainly lose their middle circle, so they need family circles to make up for it, but if they are empty nesters, they will face all the lack of "three circles" According to Yang Ping, Secretary-General of Gerontology Professional Committee of China Gerontology Society, with the growth of age, people's sense of security will be lost, which will lead to the increase of negative emotions, and the empty nest just promotes the growth of this emotion.
"The lack of spiritual comfort has become one of the main problems that plague empty nesters in China." Wu Shuo, deputy director of the office of the National Working Committee on Ageing, has both the loneliness of missing children and the emptiness of unsatisfied spiritual life.
Professor Han of China Institute of Aging Development of Northwest University believes that the selfless love for children makes it difficult for the elderly living alone to bear the huge psychological gap after leaving. When sick or having an accident, empty nesters who are left unattended often feel abandoned and feel sorry for themselves.
In addition, long-term loneliness will reduce the immune function of the elderly, increase chronic diseases, and at the same time, social function will be more lacking, resulting in autism and eventually forming a vicious circle.
Therefore, no matter how big the world is, we must go home. Loneliness is more terrible than anything. Don't let it hurt our parents! Now, go home and give them a hug, or pick up your cell phone and make a phone call!
4. The harm of long-term loneliness
1, withdrawn
Although lonely people can live a very self-centered life and may feel very comfortable, in the eyes of many people, lonely people are eccentric, withdrawn and not good at communicating with others. If they are lonely for a long time, they may feel this way, as if many things in the outside world have nothing to do with them, so there is no need to care too much, and they will gradually become very withdrawn and lack care about other things.
2. Emotional instability
Loneliness sometimes brings some negative effects. Long-term loneliness can lead to some depression. However, if people can't release their inner repression, it may have a bad influence. Mental level will be negative, emotional instability, it is difficult to control their own expression. In the long run, there will be some reticence.
Step 3 lose friends
Lonely people don't mean that they don't have friends, but they will probably lose friends if they go on like this for a long time. Some people feel lonely because of inferiority, while others feel lonely because of arrogance. When they feel lonely, they may be unwilling to open their hearts and lack trust in their friends, which are valuable in making friends. In the long run, friends may not understand you, leading to alienation or even leaving. Don't be too lonely in life. It's okay to be lost occasionally. Everything will be better if you face life positively.
Many times, loneliness is because you don't want to adjust your mood, or because you are lazy, or because of face and other reasons, but the more you don't contact, the less you dare to contact, and so on, a vicious circle. It is suggested that when you feel lonely, you can visit the park more, get up the courage to chat with others, and travel if you feel too familiar with your surroundings. Life needs happiness!