Loneliness worldwide: What everyday life has to do with it
It can affect anyone – across all age groups and regions. Loneliness has always existed, but it hasn't been talked about as much. Since the coronavirus pandemic, this has changed. The collective experience of social isolation has raised awareness of the issue among people worldwide.
But what do we do with the knowledge that one in six people in the world suffers from loneliness? The World Health Organization ( WHO ) warns of the health consequences – including depression, high blood pressure, sleep disorders, etc. Others point to potential societal consequences. Sociologist Claudia Neu of the University of Göttingen, for example, has demonstrated the connection between loneliness and the development of anti-democratic attitudes in a study. "This is not a causal connection; it does not mean that a lonely person is likely to become radical , and not all radicals are suddenly lonely either, but we have established a statistical connection," Claudia Neu told DW.
Humans are social beings, and the pain is correspondingly great when their need for community isn't met. But everyday life in modern societies has changed. Many physical meeting places have disappeared in recent years – due to home offices , online shopping, and, not least, social media platforms , where people spend a great deal of time. This development cannot be reversed, says Claudia Neu. The question of the future, however, is what form of society we want to live in. "How do we create community when we no longer meet in public?"
Many people underestimate the positive impact that even "very, very brief everyday interactions" can have, says Inga Gertmann of the organization "More in Common," which is dedicated to social cohesion. Her observation: "Today, we are more closely connected to family and friends than ever before. And we are also more closely connected to like-minded people, for example in the digital space, where people can come together who may be physically distant but share similar views. What is increasingly missing is the everyday encounter, the casual interaction with people who may also be different from ourselves."
Re-creating these spaces for everyday, casual encounters—in a new way—is an important task. Claudia Neu shares this view: "A lack of opportunity structures can make you lonely. If I don't have the opportunity to meet people in person, then the likelihood of being lonely is increased."
"We must learn to endure each other again"If everyday life disappears as a place of encounter, this also has consequences for society as a whole: Social milieus are increasingly keeping to themselves, says Claudia Neu, which is driving social division. "Marriages are becoming more homogeneous, neighborhoods are becoming more homogeneous, classes are becoming more homogeneous." This, in turn, leads to "I no longer have a sense of social inequality, because everyone around me is just like me."
This makes places where people from different backgrounds still come together all the more important – at football stadiums, for example. "Everyone is there. They're not all standing in the same corner, but that's not a problem because everyone's still looking at the same field."
We need places where we meet people in our everyday lives and sometimes rub shoulders with each other, Inga Gertmann emphasizes. "If we unlearn conflict, we unlearn the ability to change perspectives and engage in social dialogue about how we actually want to live together now and in the future." Or as Claudia Neu puts it: "We have to learn to tolerate each other again."
We are all societyThere are factors that promote loneliness – the WHO report also shows this. War, poverty, violence, and personal tragedies are clearly identified risk factors. However, it's all the more important to establish contact wherever possible, says Claudia Neu. Even if it's just "driving to another part of town and sitting down in a café or maybe eating a kebab," she says. "We are all society," she says, and we can all contribute to feeling less alone.
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