Loneliness: The Other Silent Emergency

Councillor Gary Busuttil says problem will remain when lockdown ends

Cllr Gary Busuttil

Watching a TV programme last week, in which Roman Kemp, son of Martin Kemp, titled The Silent Emergency, highlighted mental health and the suicide crisis in young men. It’s a very poignant subject, particularly at a time when our everyday lives have been severely disrupted and the coronavirus has inadvertently affected young adults and teenagers mainly in terms of education and job prospects.

According to the ONS, the main age group for suicide deaths is 45-49. However, the number of suicide deaths from the ages of 10-24 is rising, and males are three times more likely than females to take their own life. Suicide can be a taboo topic. Often, people who are feeling suicidal don’t want to worry or burden anyone with how they feel and so they don’t discuss it.

Though it’s absolutely necessary to highlight the topic of suicides, there is another topic I consider to be the other silent emergency: loneliness. It’s also topic people tend to shudder at when it’s brought up in conversation. A common misconception, 9 out of 10 people think that loneliness only affects older people. In actual fact it affects younger people as much if not more than older people. I can personally confess, that there have been times particularly during this pandemic, when I’ve felt lonely, despite living in a city of more than 8.5 million people and living a busy lifestyle.

Some of the physical health risks associated with loneliness are increased risk of high blood pressure, increased risk of coronary heart disease and stroke, and is comparable to obesity and cigarette smoking in its effect. Though loneliness isn’t considered a mental health problem, the two are very closely linked. It is associated with a greater risk of cognitive decline and dementia, more prone to depression, and possible suicide.

As a Liberal Democrat councillor over the past year, since the first lockdown in March 2020, I’ve been very impressed in how residents in Southfield Ward have responded, by creating street WhatsApp groups, looking out for their neighbours, ensuring the vulnerable have their day-to-day needs, and that has been truly humbling. Though we as councillors have not been permitted for much of the past year to meet residents face-to-face, we have kept ourselves contactable and helped many residents with their casework. Such goodwill from everyone has in my view strengthened our community in Southfield.

Liberal Democrat state that loneliness will not disappear once the coronavirus subsides and everything starts to open up. For most of the past year, many people have not been out of their own homes and may find it difficult to get back to mixing socially again. There are many different recommendations in a variety of reports on how to tackle loneliness.

As councillors and leaders of our community, the difference we can make is identifying and investing in organic community groups, groups in which residents create and take the lead, and researching and guiding people to resources that exist out there, but which people don’t know about.

Ultimately nothing is more engaging than just being asked how things are. When we were children we were taught not to talk to strangers, but I urge people to go and do the opposite.

Talk to strangers!

It is a well-known fact that people who are more connected socially are better able to cope with and recover from crises. So, let us all try to engage people we would not engage with so that we can help reduce loneliness and improve our mental health.

Gary Busuttil (Southfield Ward Liberal Democrat Councillor)

March 27, 2021