In today’s Western society are we missing the point of education? We have more free education available for every individual than ever before, more choices in career than ever before, we are wealthier society in comparison to the rest of the world, so why is mental illness and loneliness on the increase at an epidemic level?
In the UK the government has allocated a minister for the lonely in society.
When we peel back the layers to have a look at why individuals are lonely and what makes a person happy it seems to boil down to one thing – relationships.
The following extract from the American Psychological Association press release shows a summary of the contributing factors to the loneliness epidemic;
“Such “epidemics,” while not confined to rich countries, are linked to prominent features of affluent culture: longer life expectancy, decreasing marriage rates, people having fewer children, more people getting divorced, and more people living alone. “ stated Julianne Holt-Lunstad, PhD, professor of psychology at Brigham Young University. (APA, 2017)
The article went on to say – Holt-Lunstad recommended a greater priority be placed on research and resources to tackle this public health threat from the societal to the individual level. For instance, greater emphasis could be placed on social skills training for children in schools and doctors should be encouraged to include social connectedness in medical screening (APA, 2017).
In Europe, Middle East as well as in Asia people appear to be happier than in the Western countries.
With closer observation we notice the major difference in those Nations is the way the family unit relates and remains together.
A typical Italian family lives in close proximity, gets together with family more frequently than we do. When young couple get married they can depend on their parents financial support as well as physical support for when grandchildren arrive on the scene.
The same can be said about Middle Eastern families and families in Asia. Family members don’t always get along nicely but they are always involved in each other’s lives – for better or worse. This gives the individual a sense of knowing if they will be supported in difficult times. Parents often think about the financial future of their children when they are working hard and accumulating wealth. Unless there is war, the wealth of the family is passed down increasingly from generation to generation. For this reason cutting off family relationships are rare.
Family relationships can be challenging in any culture, however, developing a mindset that family is important can go a long way in preventing isolation and loneliness epidemic from becoming a national concern..