According to poet John Donne, “No man is an island, entire of
itself…” Some people indeed live alone, but not in a lonely way
because being lonely is not good for our health and well-being.
Research shows that aside from the emotional aspect, loneliness
can also shorten our lives. It is linked with poor mental
health, cardiovascular disease, hypertension and dementia. Laura
Ferguson, director of the Campaign to End Loneliness, a group of
organizations working to fight the problem, says loneliness is a
public health issue that needs to be addressed as soon as
possible. Over the last few decades, researches have continued
to show that 10% of older people feel lonely all the time.
According to estimates, there are more than one million people
above age 65 who always feel lonely. Professor Christina Victor
from Brunel University says reducing or eliminating loneliness
would surely improve health and one indication of quality of
life is the quality of social relationships. However, loneliness
is not limited to the