Loneliness has increased over lockdown. However, in our technological, hyper-social world, we are never truly alone in the modern world. To gain the treasures of solitude we must become more comfortable with ourselves and less reliant on distractions that keep us from forming a strong relationship with ourselves. Having a strong self-relationship will aid us as lockdown ends and we return to the company of other people, writes Lars Svendsen.
The first lockdown did not seem to have much effect at all on the prevalence of loneliness. If anything, the numbers were slightly lower in several countries than before the lockdown. However, as the first lockdown was followed by further ones, and the whole process dragged out, numbers started to rise.
Humans are social animals, and one would expect that many would suffer from being cut off from their normal social interactions for so long. Anyone who cares about others will experience loneliness from time to time.
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