Loneliness: Scourge of modern life

You do not need a medical expert to tell you that loneliness is injurious to health. Loneliness is linked to a range of problems including high blood pressure, weakened immune system, cardio vascular diseases, depression and strokes. What is more, lonely people are likely to die prematurely. Some experts compare loneliness to smoking 15 cigarettes a day!

- BY R. S. KARUNARATNE

I did not see my best friend Roy (not his real name) for some time. When I made inquiries from his family, I was told that he had gone to Australia to spend his retirement. One day my phone rang and a familiar voice greeted me. It was Roy. I was overjoyed to hear his voice. I asked him, "Are you going to spend the rest of your life there?" "No I am back in Sri Lanka," he said. He went on to say that he returned to Sri Lanka as he felt very lonely in Australia. "When my daughter and her husband go for work, I was left alone in the house. I had no one to talk to. All the people are busy earning their livelihood. They have no time to talk to others," he said sadly.

Roy is one of many people who feel lonely for no fault of theirs. Loneliness, or social isolation, is a serious problem in modern life. When children go abroad for higher education, or employment, their parents are left alone to fend for themselves. The children may send large amounts of money but the parents feel lonely. The situation becomes worse when one spouse dies leaving the other to live alone. For such a person loneliness can be unbearable.

Simply because you feel lonely in your old age you cannot prevent your children from going abroad. Therefore you have to find ways and means to face up to the situation. You cannot stay indoors all the time because you are on your own. You cannot go out alone and you have no one to keep company with. Lonely people are easy victims of depression. When you do not meet anyone or find no one to talk to life becomes miserable.

Hidden epidemic