The European Union reported on the “loneliness pandemic”
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Amid the coronavirus pandemic, twice as many Europeans feel lonely, a study found.
In the European Union, during the coronavirus pandemic, a doubling of the number of people feeling lonely was recorded. This is stated in the report of the European Joint Research Center (JRC), published on Monday, July 26.
“According to the JRC report, every fourth resident of the EU feels lonely, the number of lonely people during the coronavirus pandemic has doubled in all age groups … Compared to 2016, the level of loneliness among people aged 18-35 has increased fourfold,” – said in report.
If in 2016 about 12% of EU residents felt lonely, then during the pandemic this figure increased to 25%. The problem of loneliness is equally acute today for all age categories, as well as for men and women. It is equally acutely experienced by both urban and rural residents.
At the same time, before the pandemic, Northern Europe had the lowest (only 6%) level of loneliness, but today all regions of the EU demonstrate almost the same level of loneliness (from 22% to 26%).
In the EU, on average, positive feelings (feelings of cheerfulness, calmness, activity, curiosity, interest) decreased by 20-30%, and negative emotions, including tension and depression, increased by the same figure.
“This rise in feelings of loneliness has certainly been influenced by sanitary isolation measures, but there is concern about a possible loneliness pandemic. This requires intervention and effective countermeasures,” the report said.
In turn, the vice-president of the European Commission for Demography Dubravka Shuyca said that “the coronavirus pandemic has highlighted problems such as loneliness and social isolation.”
“These problems existed before, but society did not pay much attention to them. Now we must begin to better understand and solve these problems … We need to think about how to jointly build a more sustainable and cohesive society in the EU,” said Shuyca.
Recall that due to the pandemic, 1.5 million children have lost their relatives… Most children lost their parents to COVID-19 in Peru, South Africa, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Iran, the United States and Russia.
Pandemic of the unvaccinated. COVID situation in the world
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