literary journalism

All the Lonely People

In one of her most haunting poems, ‘The Loneliness One dare not sound’, EmilyDickinson likened the “horror” of loneliness to being buried alive. Today, neuroscientists believe the body’s stress response to isolation evolved to prod us back to the protective folds of the tribe when being alone really was a death sentence.

Even before the lockdowns of the past 18 months rendered it a collective condition, the social, medical and economic costs of loneliness were attracting increasing attention. In 2017, US surgeon general Vivek Murthy declared it a public health crisis. Theresa May appointed the UK’s first “minister for loneliness” in 2018; Japan followed suit this year.

In 2019, almost half of adults surveyed by YouGov reported feeling lonely at least a few times a month. Contrary to our perception that it disproportionately affects the elderly, loneliness was most prevalent among the young, with 88 per cent of 18 to24-year-olds saying they experience it to some degree.

Widespread social distancing measures in response to the pandemic have only aggravated the problem: one-third of Brits reported feeling lonelier than usual since the start of the crisis. But the ubiquity of the experience has also offered an opportunity to lift the rock of shame, to shed light on this very human condition.Three new books illuminate experiences of intimacy and estrangement from various angles…

Read the full essay online in the Financial Times

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