Experts highlight the social factors of unwanted loneliness

The data on unwanted loneliness is alarming. Governments allocate specific programs to address this phenomenon. The most important thing is that it affects privately For young people. to Very small, as defined by those responsible for the Barcelona City Council. But apart from the emotional impact that this feeling generates on those who suffer from it and on society, what are the keys to treating it? Researchers are increasingly asking to go beyond the psychological sensation and pay attention to the entire environment. Social researcher Elisa Sala He made a presentation at the Catalan Volunteers Congress where he presented the keys that go through the network intervention.

The perfect storm

Two pieces of information are enough to understand the scale of the challenge. After the pandemic, EU residents who say they feel lonely half the time are now so From 12% to double 25%. In Spain, 25% of young people feel lonely. In Barcelona, ​​loneliness is widespread Has risen. How this feeling is rising, in all countries and in all age groups. If we add this data to the increase in life expectancy, we get what Sala calls “the perfect storm.”

Structure, function and quality

“The structure, function and quality of human relations were a significant factor” when faced with the challenge of loneliness, this expert defends.

The structure is The presence or absence of people in our lives. This means having a network. The job has to do with supports: To have someone available when I need them. Quality is Emotional aspects Of relationships. An elderly woman, according to Sala, complained that her children were not present when something happened, but what she wanted was for them to come to her house to have a snack with her. This is what I need. Children realized the structure and function of human relationships. Not with quality.

Touch each other more

“Social connections, touching each other, hugging each other, kissing each other, generating oxytocin, generating endorphins, generating health, healthy relationships are channels of stress, because when we are aligned with real relationships, friendship, love, community, neighbors, then we are happy,” defends Sala. . To this we must add that loneliness is linked to the absence of a vital goal.

Three types of loneliness

Loneliness social. When we don’t feel part of the group, we feel socially lonely.

Loneliness passionate. This is what happens when we lack healthy, meaningful relationships, the ones that give us what we need to feel happy, confident, and safe in the world.

Loneliness My existence. According to Sala, it is related to “that emptiness that all people in the world feel when we ask ourselves things about our vital purpose, when we realize that we are born and die alone.”

Complex approach

Addressing loneliness and taking action is not easy when experts describe the complexity of a phenomenon that is subjective (a personal feeling) and at the same time universal because we all feel it at some point in our lives. It also has a social component.

Anti-unity neighborhoods

The social aspect of loneliness makes experts like Sala speak with increasing insistence on issues such as: poverty (associated with greater loneliness), inequality And even issues such as the shape of neighborhoods, parks, and so-called “Social infrastructureCreating spaces that promote “healthy relationships of security and trust.” These are specific issues such as the presence of libraries that can serve as climate shelters, the design of a “15-minute” city where all services are at this maximum distance, has green spaces, a volunteer network and intergenerational coexistence. Add to this challenges such as existing individualism and independence. Age discrimination (Discrimination) towards the elderly.

Loneliness or isolation?

When an elderly person dies and no one realizes it until several days or weeks later, they are said to have been a lonely person. Hall He warns that this is a mistake: This person was isolated, that’s for sure, because if he had a social network they would have realized that, for example, he had not gone down to buy bread. What we can’t be sure is whether she felt lonely or not.

Complex approach

Faced with the complex situation, experts propose different models of action. All of them integrate in one way or another individual, psychological and social aspects. This was in the presence of many participating representatives.

Sala suggests changing the palliative outlook to a protective one, based on values ​​such as mutual aid. “We have it here, in our community, and when we put it in place, people become active, as was evident during the pandemic or in the 2008 crisis. The challenge is that these networks that are created continue to function afterwards“To do this we have to start working from departments,” says this expert. “Community work is the lever that helps us bring about changes, it allows us to face the requirements of collective construction and with shared responsibility, we must redefine the life cycle,” he concludes.