Engage yourself in service to your community

The Swedish Arabic TV Alkompis الكومبس interviewed me about the World Health Ogranization announcement about considering loneliness and social isolation as a public health concern. The interview was conducted in Arabic, I share below the script in English. Question 1. The World Health Organization recently formed a committee to address the issue of loneliness as a serious health threat. What are the implications for the global organization to take such action? Answer: When the World Health Organization announce a topic or a disease as a public health concern, it means that the nature and the size of this topic is globally serious. The consequences can be: To invest more into resources to understand it, and what to find the best evidence for what interventions can be used to reduce its burden on the society. Question 2. Research shows, according to the World Health Organization, that the feeling of loneliness or isolation is not limited to the elderly in high-income countries only, as is believed, but also affects young people in the same proportion, and in all regions. What are the main reasons that made the phenomenon of loneliness turn into a global problem? Answer: This is true. So far the research found that the feeling of loneliness tend to be high among the youngster then this feeling of loneliness goes down, and later we see it the feeling loneliness goes up again among the elderly population. The topic of loneliness became a global concern after COVID19. It can be that COVID19 has exacerbated the feeling of loneliness. I would like to point out there is some nuances in the difference between loneliness and social isolation. The term loneliness is a subjective term. The person can feel lonely while sitting in a crowded bus for example. The term “social isolation” is an objective measure, which refers to the absence of social contacts and having fewer social relationships or infrequent social contact with others. Also, here it is possible to be socially isolated but not feel lonely if the person prefers a more solitary lifestyle. In summary, the loneliness is about the person’s emotional state, while social isolation is about the extent of the person social network. Question 3. Do immigrants have a greater share of loneliness due to their presence in strange societies? Answer: I will answer this question based on my personal opinion and my understanding of what I have read in the scientific literature: The feeling of loneliness is feeling that all humans can have (regardless if they are migrants or not). The migrants (specially the refugees) can be at a higher risk to feel loneliness, as they were forced to leave their homes, and most of the times they did not know what is exactly their destination, or how they will reach it and sometimes the humanitarian support was inadequate to them, therefore such level of social isolation can contribute to let them feel loneliness. Question 4. Studies indicate serious health problems that may result from feelings of loneliness. What are the most important of these problems, and what is the medical link between them and feelings of isolation? Answer: The World Health Organisation estimates that the effect of a prolonged social isolation and loneliness can have a disease burden equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Question 5. Are there social and psychological tips that help an individual overcome or resist loneliness? Answer: I think the World Health Organization is still working on collecting evidence to see what works and what does not work. But I can answer my personal opinion about it. I think service to the community and to the fellow human, towards building oneness in the society, provides a great sense of fulfillment. I suggest working on building a community in your neighborhood, specially for people that the person feels they have much heavier load than themselves. Who among your neighbors you can help? How can we think of each other as siblings in humanity, rather than family blood related? We should always keep in mind that the forms of divisions, hierarchies and inequities based on ethnicity, gender or social class are entirely manmade. So it is up to all of us to remold our relationships, conscious of our oneness. We tend to overestimate the risk of talking to strangers in the street or in our building, and we under-estimate the benefits out of it. Try today to think who you can talk to them among your neighbors and consult together on what problems you might have in the neighborhood and plan how you can work together to solve it. If you are a parent, involve your children in the consultation process. Listen to one another and try to keep aside any pre-conceived ideas what outcome you wish to have out of this consultation. Always enjoy the process of what you do in life. The full interview is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uly2H5_HvR4

#loneliness #socialisolation World Health Organization (WHO)