When we talk about solitudeexperts assume, the last name is important. Loneliness, obvious and often necessary, even persecuted, is not the same as unwanted loneliness. The latter is the most harmful and also the one that begins to spread, in a tentacled way, among the younger populationThe data is provided by a barometer developed by the AXA Foundation and the ONCE Foundation, based on hundreds of interviews carried out throughout Galicia, which focuses on a disturbing photograph.
20 percent of Galicians recognize feeling lonely without wanting to beand most of them are people between 18 and 34 years old. Digging deeper into their situation, they estimate that they have been experiencing this feeling for more than two years and in many cases they directly relate it to the use of social networks. Those that, despite the paradox, seem to distance more than bring closer.
The survey warns that the percentage of lonely people is higher among those who communicate mainly through digital means, and 88.7 percent of respondents consider that Social networks are “isolating themselves” increasingly to individuals. The data are complemented by another indisputable reality: unwanted loneliness most affects people who live in cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants (28.2%); then come municipalities with less than 10,000 inhabitants (18.8), and those with 10,000 to 50,000 inhabitants. That is to say, a scourge more urban than rural.
For psychologist Iria Gándara, from the Psychology of Aging Working Group, the data clearly show that in cities, relationships are not as deep as one might hope. Being surrounded by people sometimes means nothing.. “The more population there is, the more superficial the relationships that are established, the less we know our neighbors… nothing to do with the countryside, where we take more care of our neighbors and conversations are done face to face”, he presents. Socialization, traditionally linked to younger age groups, is one of the factors to take into account. It falls among those who dedicate more hours to their digital image, neglecting the rest of the facets of daily life.
“Young people are no longer on the streets. There are many factors that influence, such as the cultural context, the evolution of social values, individualism… with a greater incidence among young people. The problem with the networks they join is that they contain a greater number of people, but the relationships are empty. You can have two hundred friends, but when things go wrong, you have no one to call in case of a problem,” reflects Gándara on the consequences of the paradigm shift.
“We have already seen it during the pandemic”
Older people, he says, don’t interact through networks, or at least they don’t do it as intensely, which promotes physical interactions. Ultimately, the expert assures, human beings need this real contact to exist. “We have already seen it during the pandemic, when it was demonstrated that humans, no matter how many networks and technologies we have, need to see and touch each other, and this is what is lacking in the youngest sector of society,” he says.
This disconnection from their peers promotes “less intimate and less deep” connections that can even lead to psychological and psychiatric problems. The most common are the usual anxiety and depression. “More and more studies show that loneliness is a cause of these pathologies and even This unwanted loneliness is linked to isolation and dementia” explains Gándara. A study published last year went further and also showed that isolation is associated with increased mortality in the same way as smoking or obesity. “It is a silent problem, which is not talked about enough, but it is more serious than we think,” concludes the expert.
According to the barometer presented, those most at risk are not only those who reside in large cities, but also those who have a lowest level of education. The incidence of unwanted loneliness, he notes, is higher among those without a college education: 22.7 percent versus 13.1 percent among those with a college education. Something similar happens with income level. more difficulty making ends meeta greater feeling of emptiness. In addition, almost 40 percent of those affected recognize that their health is not good, which confirms the links between healthy social relationships and well-being at all levels. The report also indicates that the vast majority of Galicians (98.7 percent) consider that anyone is vulnerable to unwanted loneliness. And that two out of three people consulted, complete, know someone in this situation. A battle that, for the moment, it is the screens that are winning.
