As we approach the festive season of Christmas the issue of loneliness in society becomes even more poignant. It should force those of us who have close family and friends around us to examine what we can do as individuals to help those afflicted by loneliness.
Loneliness in Malta – despite being in an island in which each square kilometre forces us to live hugger-mugger with 1,265 other individuals – has been driving thousands of people to call an emergency support hotline established by the government agency, Aġenzija Appoġġ, “just to have someone to talk to”.
A breakdown of the reasons for the calls in the last 10 years demonstrates that callers were more likely to seek help because they were lonely than on account of drug- or alcohol-related abuse problems. By far the most common reason for people calling the hotline was because they wanted someone to listen to them, or because they needed simple advice and had nowhere else to go.
Over 10,000 people called the emergency number after feeling “unbearably lonely”. This figure amounts to 10 per cent of all the calls received by the Appoġġ professional staff running the support service. Interestingly, depression – which also could be a result of loneliness - accounted for over 7,000 of the calls made, meaning that the number of callers claiming to feel lonely and who are socially isolated could actually be higher.
Caritas Malta has highlighted how the pain of loneliness can be especially difficult for those who have no one at Christmas that they can share it with. Mr Leonid McKay, the Caritas Malta executive director, who runs a shelter – a converted townhouse in Birkirkara – offering support for the lonely had drawn attention to this issue at Christmas last year.
Mr McKay said that many people made the mistake of linking loneliness to those who were old orinfirm. But he pointed out that although older people may be more likely to feel alone, he had encountered several young people and middle-aged people who also struggled with loneliness.
This is a matter which affects all strands of society. Mr McKay said that: “Loneliness is a plague affecting people across all walks of life which we seldom talk about. Many just want someone to talk to, but have no one.”
Every year Caritas Malta organises a Christmas Day lunch for the homeless and those who are too poor or deprived. The meal attracts about two hundred people and caters for those who have nowhere to go. But the meal also attracts many who simply have no one to share the day with and are lonely.
What can we, who are surrounded by members of our extended families, do? Malta is renowned for its generosity and friendliness. At Christmas we tend understandably to spend it in the bosom of our families, focussing on our children and grandchildren for whom Christmas Day is such an exciting and memorable day.
This year, should we not spare a thought for those who we know are going to be alone and extend an invitation to just one of them to join us? If only 10,000 families took in one lonely person on Christmas Day, the problem of loneliness would be hugely alleviated. If you don’t know a lonely person, why not contact Aġenzija Appoġġ to put you in touch with them?
Charities like Caritas do wonderful work. But we too as citizens have a duty to help those who, often through no fault of their own, are on the margins of our affluent society.