As the UK population rapidly ages, one of the biggest challenges faced by the society is that of loneliness and social isolation consequently the issue must be addressed in the interest of the wider population and community. “Loneliness” is a subjective feeling of a loss of meaningful social relationships, while “social isolation” is an objective measurement indicating a lack of social interaction and relationships which could be caused by deterioration in health (Biordi and Nicholson 2008). By responding to the issues of loneliness and social isolation, it is possible that the quality of life for older people could be improved thereby increasing the level of independence towards expensive services (Ollonqvist et al 2008). Evidently it is estimated of those aged 65 and over between 5 and 6% of individuals expressed feelings of loneliness and 12% feel isolated. Having said that, these numbers are likely to increase due to demographic developments including family dispersal and the ageing in population as Greaves and Farbus (2006) discussed in their study. In addition reiterating acute loneliness and social isolation could have an impact on an individual’s quality of life more so creating detrimental health effects.
Loneliness and social isolation is a public health issue supported by researchers highlighting the impact of social relationships on the risk of death as opposed to risks which have already been established for example smoking and alcoholism (Greaves and Farbus
The social isolation risks rose up with development of social exclusion and hardship, such as addiction, divorce, disability, separation and illness. An also, people confront with predicament exacerbation by the
Social isolation is a social issue where people avoid contact with one society. They are commonly seen nowadays preventing people from interacting with another as well as creating reliable relations, abating any chances for one to realize their destiny. This negative spiral immensely affects the opportunity for people holding a feeling of love and community toward others.
Loneliness has become an epidemic among young adults and spared out in elders’ everyday life where social isolation has become a cause of early death because we cannot cope alone.
Oftentimes, people confuse loneliness with the state of being alone. When looking at the overall big picture, it is easy to forget that loneliness is temporary. People are not alone because even back in primitive times, they bore a natural instinct to strive for companionship in order to survive. Human imagination creates companions in cases of extreme loneliness which contradicts the state of being alone. Due to societal and family standards, others in society make it practically impossible to be alone. Mankind often goes through life without realizing the overwhelming amount of human contact and support. People are never alone, they are just simply
Nouwen (1975) describes loneliness as a universal experience that affects even the most intimate relationships. He identifies loneliness as one of the universal sources of human suffering. Some of the mental suffering in the
The impact of loneliness on physical health can also be better understood by the study conducted by Uchino and colleagues (1996). They found that social individuals have lower blood pressure, better immunity and lower levels of stress hormones than the socially isolated people. In contrast another study described by Arthur 2006 demonstrated that it is not yet clear that group therapy or socialization can improve the secondary prevention of Coronary heart Disease. After considering all the studies and arguments by different authors it can be conclude that it is necessary to do more research on the impact of socialization on physical health of individuals.
In conclusion, when people are experiencing loneliness, their actions, as well as their way of life is altered. Also some problems and changes are caused
The effects of social isolation can happen at any age and to any person. Since the 1980s, the percentage of loneliness felt among American adults has doubled from 20 percent to 40 percent (Khullar). A substantial body of research shows that
Loneliness is becoming a worrisome trend in New York, the majority of the population are increasingly experiencing seclusion. The Scream on Fifty-seventh Street by Calisher is evidence that loneliness is a reality, and it's quite dangerous. The majority of the lonely people are the elderly widower and single parent families or divorced. Loneliness refers to the divergence amid the aspired and attained levels of social interaction' (Peplau & Perlman), it's stereotypical that old age is a season of loneliness. A typical characteristic of isolation is its subjectivity of experience and presence of an adverse effect.
Although, social isolation is a common condition among the older people, which often affect their wellbeing, health and quality of life (Richard et al. 2009:338). However, the support for disengagement theory is limited, and it’s has been criticised that it lacks empirical supports with no research base, as many older adults wish to remain active and engaged in their community activities, therefore social withdrawal doesn’t have to be inevitable, it’s a process and for some people its occurs over time and not just at once (Harold
Though isolating one’s self from others from time to time can be healthy, those who experience isolation will inevitably crave intimate connections with others, which, unfortunately, is something that not all can achieve. The short story, “Miss Brill” by Katherine Mansfield, shows the effects that loneliness and isolation can bring to those who struggle with it. “Miss Brill” deals with the elderly, solitary title protagonist, who spends her Sunday afternoons the exact same way, with the exception of one Sunday afternoon to which her reality finally catches up to her. While Miss Brill finds herself surrounded with an abundance of people and lively music, she still finds it difficult to engage with those around her. Through this text, Mansfield
The ability to support the older people keep up social ties with the use of technical devices such as telephone is vital, and there is indication that older people may benefit from the use of internet as a befriending opportunity (Skingley, 2013). According to Age UK (2009), there is no evidence to effectiveness of services aimed at reducing loneliness and social isolation among older people, but concludes that there is a need to focus on befriending services for older people, in particular the effectiveness of such services in terms of their impact on older people’s quality of life and their overall preventive value.
This study investigated the difference between emotional and social loneliness using structural equation modeling, evaluated whether a two-dimensional or unidimensional conception of loneliness provides a better fit to the data. Second, the extent to which positive and negative social exchanges are associated with older adults’ loneliness was examined. Third, they also investigated whether the structure and social-exchange correlates of loneliness differ for currently married versus formerly married older
There are many reasons to why elderly persons can fall at risk of social isolation and loneliness. These factors can range anywhere from
According to George Monbiot’s article “The Age of Loneliness Is Killing Us” Monbiot states that society is shifting into isolation and loneliness. Instead of having the age of sharing and socializing. Each and every individual is wanting to stay alone with their own solitude and loneliness. Monbiot recognizes this damaging effect on society and states that how much dangerous it is. To start off. Monbiot claims that we as humans are social beings and always will be “We were social creatures from the start,” by disagreeing with Thomas Hobbes’s claim on our human state of nature “of every man against every man.” Monbiot sees this idea of every person on their own an epidemic of loneliness in today’s age, and how it