Yet again, time has seemingly flown by and here I am acknowledging the rather daunting fact that I missed writing anything for year? Well, no good crying over spilt milk, and my plan is to rectify the mistake and the following thoughts are my first in a very long time. Hopefully, I still have a few loyal followers who have not yet given me up as a totally lost cause! If so, then thank you very much for being interested in my writing! It is much appreciated.
Loneliness in this busy world
From my perspective, the word “loneliness” definitely defines the feelings of many people, of varying ages, and economic backgrounds all over the world. Technological advances have made it relatively easy to communicate and keep in touch with friends and relatives in every corner of the universe, but the feelings of loneliness and abandonment would appear to be on the increase. This is confirmed by the number of cases of depression and attempted as well as successful suicides recorded by involved professionals in many areas. How many lonely and desperate people end their lives in sad mental states, just craving someone to take the time to listen to them?
From the above, it would appear that no advance in technology is going to be the magic formula to eliminating loneliness. The truth may be the total reverse. Being able to constantly hear and see, via social media, just how happy and successful and popular other people appear to be, could be the exacerbating factor in increasing one’s sense of loneliness and being a failure. Age doesn’t seem to be the all defining factor in this situation either. Teenage suicides are, in certain societies, on the increase and cyber bullying is often being cited as the cause. How lonely must a young person feel when they have no-one to turn to, whilst they have to suffer on-line attacks to their feelings of self-worth.
Somehow, face to face bullying might be slightly easier to handle as others can sometimes witness the bullying and hopefully intervene. When bullying comes in the form of abusive personal phone calls or offensive photos going viral, belittling or embarrassing the recipient or creating fear, one can only imagine the pain such behaviour can cause. For the bully, it is easier to do their dirty work without having to actually face the one they are taking pleasure in trying to destroy psychologically. Obviously, it has to be a person with very low personal self esteem who needs to frighten and harass another to gain a feeling of power. Such behaviour deserves the most severe form of punishment if and when the perpetrator is identified and confronted.
Another area which appears to be the reason for many cases of loneliness is the emigration of family members to far-away places and the subsequent break down of a former close-knit unit. Although zoom calls and regular phone chats can help to keep in touch, nothing takes the place of personal visits and family time spent together. For many older people the internet itself can be challenging and often failing eyesight or hearing just makes communicating very difficult . By taking the time to notice signs of loneliness and being aware of it being a possible precursor to more serious mental conditions such as depression and feeling hopeless, we might just be able to do our part in making a difference for someone, in the course of our own day to day busy lives.
Just a thought.
Bye for now and see you on the Magic Roundabout!
The Magic Roundabout 