‘What Happens Next?’: Are We Lonelier Than Ever?
Many of us have emerged from two years of social isolation and physical distancing with a new understanding of what it means to be lonely.
Zoom birthday parties and Facebook live streams were fun for a while, but it quickly became clear that social media can’t replace the original social network, and digital connection is no substitute for the real thing.
Read: Making connections: The pros and cons of digital tech for patients
The COVID-19 pandemic certainly exacerbated feelings of disconnection, but even before lockdown became the name of the game, global reports of loneliness were creeping up at an alarming rate. Both Japan and the United Kingdom established government positions dedicated to its relief, and little wonder – the cost of loneliness is high.
Social isolation affects us individually and as a society. Its detrimental health effects – including an increased risk of cardiovascular disease – are well-documented. Feelings of loneliness are high among patients with chronic pain, so it’s also strongly associated with opioid abuse. And in 2021, a study from Monash Business School’s Centre of Health Economics found the effects of loneliness represent a major economic burden as well.
In an age of digital connection, why is humanity feeling more lonely than ever? What are the modern roots of loneliness? What are its hidden costs? And can we address the issue without upending society as we know it?
In part one of a new series of Monash University’s What Happens Next? podcast, host Dr Susan Carland is joined by sociologist Dr Alan Petersen, life-course epidemiologist Dr Rosanne Freak-Poli, federal MP Andrew Giles, and Dr Suzi Nielsen, Deputy Director of the Monash Addiction Research Centre.
“The main difference between now and a hundred years ago is the way we live. If we look at just the number of people per household, in 1910, it was an average of 4.5. And in 2016, it was 2.75. So, that's a 40 per cent decrease of people physically around you where you live…. And in the late ’40s, it was about 7 per cent of people that lived alone. But in 2005, it was up to 30 per cent... at least a quarter of people living alone in Australia."Dr Rosanne Freak-Poli
What Happens Next? will be back next week with part two of this series.
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