All by myself, don’t wanna be...
Loneliness is a global tidal wave, and it’s even washing over Asia, traditionally the most socially connected of regions. Let’s take a Deep Dive.
🥀 Loneliness is on the rise in Asia.
🥺 There are numerous reasons why: from smartphones to social media to the pandemic to growing wealth and urbanisation in the region.
😱 Loneliness is very different from isolation, which can be positive; it can still be easy to feel lonely even when surrounded by people.
QUOTABLE
“Why do people have to be this lonely? What’s the point of it all? Millions of people in this world, all of them yearning, looking to others to satisfy them, yet isolating themselves. Why? Was the earth put here just to nourish human loneliness?”— Haruki Murakami, author
BY THE NUMBERS
29 percent Social isolation and loneliness are associated with a 29 percent increase in the risk of heart disease.
24.2 percent The Philippines is home to Asia’s loneliest young people, with 24.2 percent of those aged 13 to 17 reporting feeling lonely most of the time or always.
27 percent The genetic component of loneliness is fairly low, at about 14 to 27 percent.
QUIZ
What will China’s so-called companionship economy, based on the alleviation of loneliness, be worth in 2025, according to a report by local investment company Sinolink Securities?
A. $70 million
B. $700 million
C. $7 billion
Scroll to the bottom for the answer.
DID YOU KNOW?
Some of the world’s most extreme loneliness is suffered by students from the more collectivist cultures of Asia when they study abroad in the more individualist nations of the west.
THE EDIT
🤒 People are good for you. Loneliness can lead to an alarming range of different medical conditions, from depression to high blood pressure and weight gain.
😷 Excessive social distancing. Japan is famous for the phenomenon of hikikomori, or voluntary total social withdrawal—something that was dramatically exacerbated by the pandemic.
📱 Always connected, always alone. According to a study in China, excessive smartphone use causes loneliness.
✅❎ Friends vs “friends”. Social media can have a positive impact on loneliness, when it’s used to communicate with friends, or a negative one, when it’s used to passively consume information.
KEY PLAYER
Vivek Murthy
US surgeon general Vivek Murthy has been in the vanguard of those warning of the dangers of growing loneliness. Characterising it as an epidemic on a par with smoking or obesity, he has said that we should see loneliness as akin to hunger or thirst: a signal that we’re missing out on something vital.
HONOUREE TO KNOW
Joan Low
Joan Low’s ThoughtFull app provides counselling sessions with certified professionals and mental wellness programmes for corporate and educational organisations. Joan’s vision is for seeking mental health to be as aspirational and habit-forming as seeking physical health is today.
DIVE DEEPER
Life expectancy is growing in Singapore, and the city-state is coming to terms with the loneliness that’s increasing with it.
ONE FINAL THING
Some happy news to end on: of the ways people can fight back against loneliness, one of the most effective is simple and likely to put a smile on most people’s faces: get a pet.
