The thousands of lonesome callers to a free government support line often lived with family and loved ones but still felt they had no one to talk to, the agency that runs the service said.
The Times of Malta reported on Wednesday that, since 2006, more than 10,000 calls had been made to the 179 support line from people who said they were lonely and needed someone to talk to.
A breakdown of the calls made to 179 shows these were three times more likely to come from lonely people than from drug or alcohol abusers. In fact, one in every 10 calls was by a lonely person. The support line is a 24-hour free telephone service offered by Aġenzija Appoġġ.
It has been run by a team of professionally-trained volunteers, under the supervision of professionals, for the past 20 years and receives dozens of calls every day from people seeking help or are socially isolated, vulnerable, at risk and victims of any form of abuse. An agency spokesman told this newspaper lonely callers consisted of both men and women, were from different age groups and had different social backgrounds.
Family members may not have time to listen to them and to share their lives with them
“One of the common factors these callers have is that a large number of them suffer from mental health issues or else are going through a difficult time in their lives,” the spokesman added.
Loneliness, he continued, was often viewed as something that affected the elderly and those who lived alone, at the edge of society.
“It is also a state of mind and we also have people who live with their families and they still feel lonely. Family members may not have time to listen to them and to share their lives with them,” the spokesman noted.
A closer look at the number of calls received shows that other common reasons why people picked up the phone to seek help were because they felt depressed for some reason or other – 7,085 cases since 2006 – or due to mental health issues –13,188 calls.
By far, the most common reason people called the hotline was simply because they wanted someone to listen to them or they needed simple advice and had nowhere else to go. In fact, a third of all the calls were made for this reason.
Asked about this, the agency spokesman said that many callers “just want someone to listen to them and be there for them”.
“The anonymity of talking to a trained listener about personal issues over the phone appeals to a lot of people who feel they cannot express themselves with other people face to face,” he said, adding that anonymity and confidentiality was a key part of the service.