We must treat loneliness ‘epidemic’ as an emergency

AN underexplored topic in today’s discourse is the “loneliness epidemic”, which has systematically questioned the integrity of our interpersonal and communal relationships across the world.

The World Health Organisation’s (WHO) commission on Social Connection estimates that loneliness affects one in four older adults and between 5% and 15% of adolescents. In fact, the WHO has declared loneliness to be a “global public health concern”.

The lack of authentic social connections has been shown, demonstrably, to lead to isolation and adverse psychosocial effects on individual and communal health. According to a Meta-Gallup survey conducted in more than 140 countries, a quarter of adults worldwide feel “very or fairly lonely”.

What was most concerning was that it was young adults (aged 19 to 29) who experienced the highest levels of loneliness. This exacerbates the issue of loneliness by an incredible margin as the experience of social isolation has been traditionally associated with elderly communities – the widespread impact of the issue across different demographics constitutes a global emergency indeed, as it has the potential to upset global consciousness all together.

The worsening of the loneliness epidemic follows years of disconnected physical relationships as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic that began in 2020 and which limited in-person contact.

In Malaysia, a study revealed that 14% of citizens feel “fairly” or “very lonely”. The government found that the issue is also affecting adolescents: 16.2% of secondary school students said they suffered from loneliness.

It ought to be an immediate priority to comprehensively tackle this issue. The long-term impact could weaken important social structures required for healthy, united, and productive nations with prospering populations.

A new policy framework must be designed to incentivise bonding activities in communities across Malaysia, transforming neighbourhoods into beacons of positive human interaction. It must also develop counter-measures against the proliferation of antisocial behaviour that threatens social harmony.

Such measures ought to also include awareness programmes in schools and universities that seek to promote a culture of togetherness and unity.

The pervasiveness of this issue threatens to dismantle families, communities, and whole social structures, provoking an existential crisis of immense proportions. We must treat this epidemic of loneliness as a national and global emergency.

PRAVIN PERIASAMY

Networking and partnership director

Malaysian Philosophy Society