As many as 50 percent of adult Poles may experience chronic loneliness. Women are more likely to develop it, according to research by scientists from the Department of Psychiatry at the Wroclaw Medical University. The study also shows that 23 percent of respondents admit to social isolation.
The university reports in a press release that researchers from the Department of Psychiatry at the Wroclaw Medical University, who have been studying the phenomenon of loneliness in Poland for several months, have just conducted the second nationwide study on a representative group of adult Poles aged 18 to over 80.
'About 68 percent of adults experience loneliness, while 23 percent of respondents admit to social isolation. After 6 months, the same group was re-examined and the conclusions are devastating: chronic loneliness - much more disturbing and dangerous - affects half of the respondents', we read in the press release.
After a few months, the researchers returned with detailed surveys to the same group of people aged 18-80. They did not ask directly about the feeling of loneliness, because many people do not want to openly admit that they feel lonely. So they looked for indirect indicators. They asked to what extent the respondent does not feel comfortable in relationships with others, to what extent these contacts are unsatisfactory for them. They examined the hidden loneliness of Poles. They used the De Jong-Gierveld scale and obtained a result indicating that 50 percent of the respondents could experience chronic loneliness.
It turned out that the risk factors for chronic loneliness are not the place of residence, employment status, threats related to losing a job, or the salary amount. The only demographic risk factor is gender.
'Women have a greater tendency to develop chronic loneliness. This is consistent with the scientific literature and with the fact that loneliness is close to emotions, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, problems with rejection', says Professor Błażej Misiak.
The study also shows that the relationship with age is not linear. Chronic loneliness is felt most strongly by young adults aged 18-35 and seniors over 75. Scientists suspect that loneliness among young people is a result of the pandemic and this phenomenon took stronger root when virtual contact dominated.
'We got used to this initially uncomfortable form of contact via social media and phones. But over time it turned out that it did not provide satisfying, deeper relationships. Many people feel the artificiality and shallowness of such interactions, relationships are superficial, accidental and interrupted. Hence the feeling of frustration and loneliness', Misiak explains.
Scientists now believe that the most important task is to determine how to include chronic loneliness in the process of psychotherapy.
'We are considering what therapeutic procedures to develop based on work on cognitive distortions related to processing social information in order to help lonely people engage and rebuild social relationships. We would like to develop interventions in which the feeling of loneliness will be the main area of therapy', Misiak adds. (PAP)
PAP - Science in Poland
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