World's First Minister For Loneliness
Great Britain is a country facing a lot right now. More than a year ago, when UK voted to leave the European Union many British citizens were scared that a time of isolation, loneliness and discomfort would come.
But scientists after running a few researches found that loneliness in fact had already occurred in their lives in a huge percentage.
Loneliness may result in many things such as increasement in chances of getting sick, reducement of the ability to fight viral infections and difficulty in facing colds. (study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ,2015-2017) If a person feels extremely lonely, then there might be increased chances of even dying.
So, as anyone can realize, loneliness is a serious problem responsible for the state of 9 million UK people that report of feeling always lonely. Sadly, people suffering from loneliness overload the health care system and in many cases head to hospitals or clinics just to be around other people even though physically they are not sick. (2010 essay in the journal The Lancet)
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The solution:
Theresa May, the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister, appointed a “minister of loneliness” to tackle the social and health issues caused by social isolation. Tracey Crouch is officially the world’s first minister of loneliness. Her duties will be to implement a project academic Jo Cox had started, almost 2 years ago when her assassination by a man shocked the world.
In recent interviews Tracey Crouch described loneliness as a cancer, something that eats you away. Nobody knows what goes on behind the scenes of closed doors when you don’t have the will to even get dress.
Theresa May, on her press release stated “For far too many people, loneliness is the sad reality of modern life, I want to confront this challenge for our society and for all of us to take action to address the loneliness endured by the elderly, by carers, by those who have lost loved ones — people who have no one to talk to or share their thoughts and experiences with.
Even though it is thought from many to be a problem just for the elder ones, a significant number of university students lock themselves in their rooms for days due to the fact that they feel rejected from others.
But the good news are that loneliness is a treatable illness (if you can call it that way) and having a ministry to face this kind of problem should only fill us with hope for the future that better days may come not only for the UK but for the rest of the world in general.
Sources:
http://nairobinews.nation.co.ke/life/uk-prime-minister-appoints-minister-for-loneliness/ https://qz.com/1182715/why-the-uk-appointed-a-minister-for-loneliness-epidemic-leads-to-early-deaths/ https://www.livescience.com/61466-ministry-of-loneliness.html