Loneliness, a silenced problem

Little is said about unwanted loneliness. We have so many major social problems –housing, the education crisis, chronic poverty, mental health...– that unwanted loneliness, which is not very evident at first glance, does not generate alarm. But in the world we have built, it is a growing malaise: more and more people, of all social conditions and ages, from urban and rural environments, live the trauma of social isolation. Even people we would never imagine. It does not affect, as many think, only and above all the elderly. It also affects, and increasingly so, children, adolescents, and young people; and it also affects adults who apparently lead a conventional life. This harsh reality is well documented and known, but it does not receive enough attention, neither from the media nor from professional support. So it is not on the list of social priorities. Clearly, there is a lack of awareness of the seriousness it entails.

On the eve of the Week Against Unwanted Loneliness, organized for the third year by Sant Joan de Déu Solidaritat, we at the newspaper wanted to address the issue through a group whose reality has always been at the center of political debate, too often far from the consideration and humanitarian view that would be needed: immigrants. But this time we do not want to enter into political, economic, cultural, or legal analysis. We simply want to give a voice to stories of unwanted loneliness of immigrants, who, being people with very harsh life trajectories, with accumulated problems, often on the verge of subsistence, acquire an even greater dramatism. They are stories of people who have managed to get out of loneliness. Not without effort or sacrifice, and in many cases thanks to the intervention of organizations and people who have helped them in their reception.

Unwanted loneliness, of course, like any other psychological and social dysfunction, requires professional support and, as is obvious in this case, requires community and civic complicity. It is not for nothing that the human being is, in essence, a social animal. Our progress as a species has been collaborative. Undoubtedly, there are people who may choose loneliness, but the vast majority has—we have—a need for contact with others, for interaction, for empathy, for emotional support. Especially in early ages and in old age. Digitization can partially replace direct contact. But it is not the same. And it often also isolates. Hence why face-to-face interaction is once again being strongly demanded in cultural, social, and work life.

Societies rich in associations are those that best combat unwanted loneliness, which is becoming a true global emergency, with a direct impact on the emotional well-being and physical health of millions of people around the world. Also here at home. Surely, and perhaps without knowing it, neighbors, coworkers, or people we have very close by: in the whole of the State, it is estimated that 20% of the population suffers from it. Thus, it is essential that we collectively become aware of this phenomenon to prevent and reverse it.