Millions of elderly and vulnerable people suffering from chronic loneliness are now facing further isolation due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This will cause and exacerbate a different set of problems such as mental health issues.
There have been almost 400,000 confirmed cases
of coronavirus around the world, whilst over 17,000 people have died. Although
the virus appears to be on the wane in China and South Korea, Europe is now the
epicentre with tens of thousands of cases reported.
Governments across Europe have issued lockdowns
and advised citizens, especially the elderly, to self-isolate in order to
prevent spread and mortality. While self-isolation may save lives, it will
cause and exacerbate a different set of problems such as mental health issues
and loneliness – the consequences of which I see on a daily basis in my line of
work.
One is the loneliest number, as the song written by Harry Nilsson goes. Sadly, this
is becoming the reality for an increasing number of people, both old and young,
across the industrialised world. The atomisation of society and consequent
alienation of individuals from each other is particularly visible in big cities
such as London where few speak to, let alone meaningfully interact with, their
neighbours.
Three-quarters of British people apparently do not even know
their neighbours names and over half hardly speak with them.
Loneliness alongside a lack of social interaction has negative effects
upon both physical and mental
health. Social
isolation increases the risk of developing heart disease, stroke and dementia, can be as detrimental to physical health as
smoking, and can be more unhealthy than obesity and lack of exercise.
The Campaign to End Loneliness estimates nine million UK
adults suffer from loneliness, four million of whom are older people. Half of all over 75 year olds live alone and over a million older adults can pass an entire month in
solitude without talking to friends, family or neighbours. Roughly half of
those aged 65 and above report that television or pets are their main form of company.
Those at particular risk of social isolation include middle-aged
and older individuals who are also single and suffer from chronic health
problems.
Loneliness is also increasing at the other end of the age spectrum and
even seems to be a greater problem in the young. According to a YouGov poll, almost a third of those aged 18-24 feel lonely
either always or most of the time, whereas only 17 percent of those over the
age of 55 reported the same. Similar findings have been reported amongst young
adults in the US and Australia, though the factors which cause millennials and
Generation Z-ers (or centennials as they are also known) who have been brought
up on a diet of social media to feel lonely differ from those of the older
generation.
Many of society’s loneliest are also the most
vulnerable
Akin to physical illness, mental health problems
are both a cause and consequence of social isolation – a situation I frequently
come across as a doctor working in a psychiatric hospital. It is common to
encounter situations where middle-aged or elderly individuals have either been
admitted to hospital as a consequence of depression brought on by social
isolation, or who having been treated for their mental health problems are due
to be discharged back to living alone, sometimes into poor quality or temporary
accommodation, which is likely to lead to a relapse of their illness.
It is disheartening to know that despite helping
them recover, their paucity of social support or lack of friends and family may
well cause them to be readmitted with the same issues in the future.
Some patients fear being discharged into
solitude. Their admission to a hospital ward and subsequent contact with
healthcare professionals and friendships forged with fellow patients may be the
first decent human interaction they have had in a long time. They often lose
this network when discharged and the reality of life and social isolation hits
hard.
Evermore stretched and underfunded community psychiatric care can only
plug the gaps so much. This is not helped by the fact that community services
such as day centres and befriending services have suffered extensive cutbacks
since the Conservative Party unleashed austerity measures on the population.
For example, in the past eight years the number of adult day centres, a hub for older
and vulnerable adults to socialise, have been cut by 40 percent.
Nowadays with coronavirus spreading across Britain and mainland Europe,
many countries have gone into shutdown. The over 70s have been advised by the UK health secretary that they may
soon have to self-isolate for prolonged periods.
Such measures, perhaps necessary to a degree, will only exacerbate
loneliness. As many older people live alone, the question remains who will
bring them supplies such as food and medicine. Likewise, their health may
deteriorate if routine operations or clinic appointments are cancelled to allow resources to be redeployed elsewhere to
deal with the coronavirus epidemic.
Look out for your older neighbours. Check if
they need anything and have adequate provisions before they go into isolation.
Isolation is likely to have detrimental effects on the physical and mental
health of younger people too, especially those who live alone and find
themselves becoming increasingly sedentary and spending more time using social
media. The likely increase in social media use, alongside an increased focus on
news associated with coronavirus, is likely to further fuel people’s collective
anxiety.
In the meantime, whilst people are frightened
and distracted by the coronavirus pandemic, governments have a unique
opportunity to bury bad news and roll-out unpopular legislation, some of which
might be justified as being in the national interest. Now is the time to be
vigilant and realise that coronavirus, though a major problem, is not the only
issue out there.
Global Research, April 01,
2020
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