Besides the virus-induced pandemic raging the world we are also dealing with one of the biggest epidemics hitting our generation is not any disease by loneliness itself. Its time we acknowledge the elephant in the room. With every person being a potential carrier of the coronavirus which till-date has no cure, we are forced to quarantine and physical distance from our near and dear ones. Loneliness is a dirty word carrying a stigma of shame. Loneliness does not stem from solitude per se.
You can be surrounded by 100 people and still feel lonely. The major reason for this loneliness is a technology and how hooked we are to our smartphones all the time. Most of us have forgotten what it’s like to make human contact and connect with another human being. It’s so much easier to maintain virtual connections, even blocking people online is 1000x better than dealing with an uncomfortable conversation in person.
Reliance on consumption instead of connection is killing us
Some people who are socially isolated don’t necessarily feel lonely, and some people who are lonely are surrounded by people who make them feel more alienated, not less. Having said that Isolation can be a killer. A strong physical and mental regime is needed to offset the impacts. Awareness is the first step towards the solution. While it feels like opening a Pandora box of problems for employers to resolve, a well-devised ‘system’ can resolve most of the responsibilities.
Lack of human connection and warm relationships has turned us into zombies trudging through our day.Life has lost meaning because there is less to experience physically than be intoxicated into a world of our creation. Black mirror is a great example of where society and civilisation is headed.
There is a study that states that loneliness is as a bad as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. We are responsible to take care of our emotional and mental well being. A large population of remote workers, stay at home spouses and old parents are at risk of suffering from loneliness and depression.As you age it becomes harder to make friends. The need to share with one another is ingrained in our DNA.Our brain is wired to help us make more connections,when something unforeseen happens we have a strong urge to share. This strong urge stems from the underlying need for survival. Our brain knows what’s best for us.
Wherein lies the conundrum: How can you meaningfully articulate the experience of being alive if you yourself are only in tune with the broken clockwork of your own anxiety, the echo chamber of your own skull?
The western world tells us to know ourselves and to be social. Contradicting its own facts we never learnt how to be alone with ourselves. Most of us are so scared of solitude we would rather hang out with people whose company we don’t even enjoy to avoid feeling bored.When you surround yourself with moments of solitude and stillness, you become intimately familiar with your environment in a way that forced stimulation doesn’t allow.
Loneliness is a self inflicted wound.You have the strength to heal it.“Social isolation is the best-established, most robust social or psychological risk factor for disease out there. Nothing can compare.”
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Akansha