2023-08-18 09:58:16
They represent 11.2% of people who live alone, and are more vulnerable.
Living alone is not being alone. Nor does living with people mean that one feels accompanied. Loneliness is much more. It is a painful feeling that arises from the discrepancy between the social relationships that a person has and those that he would like to have. In Spain, 1.7 million people over the age of 70 live alone, but almost 200,000 of them (192,000, 11.2%) have no one to talk to about their daily problems and feelings. And that hurts, it hurts a lot.
This is indicated by the Survey of Essential Characteristics of the Population and Housing (2021), which warns of a certain vulnerability among these people as they run the risk of suffering more health ailments and living more discouraged, explain Jesús Escudero and Clara Bueno, from the Population group. of the CSIC.
And it is that, as the experts say, human connections, social participation and friendship relationships are the basis for fighting against unwanted loneliness and “a guarantee of well-being for older people. There is no better antidote against the feeling of loneliness than talking and interacting with other people on a day-to-day basis”, the researchers point out in an article published in Envejecimiento en Red, from the Center for Human and Social Sciences of the CSIC (Institute of Economics, Geography and Demographics).
Loneliness affects all ages. In fact, the latest data indicates that young people are the ones who feel the most alone. The problem with the elderly is that social support diminishes as they enter old age. They separate from friends and rely on family. Then, the children become their support.
This is the case of María García, 72 years old. She lives alone since her children became independent and she likes it. “I don’t want to go live with anyone, I love my house, my bed, my silence,” she says. Although she admits that a few years ago, a few of her, she began to move away from the friends who have accompanied her throughout her adulthood.
“You don’t really know the reason, but you start to go out less, you become lazier and you lose the desire… And one day you realize that you barely have it anymore. And then you start to feel alone, because you don’t have anyone to talk to except your children, who have a lot of trouble with work and their children. And, let’s not kid ourselves, it’s not enough. You miss other people you can talk to without family ties.”
So, María, an animal lover, was clear about it. She took a dog from a protector, Tizón, with whom she is seen walking every morning, noon and afternoon. And thanks to him – “because dogs need to socialize”, she clarifies – she has met other people, of different ages, with different concerns, while she collaborates with the shelter. “Talking to others, meeting other people has given me life,” she says. “I depend much less on my children and, also, when we see each other, I also have to tell different stories”, she explains.
“As people get older, the offspring take over from friends, neighbors and relatives, who during adulthood are the main source of social support among people who live alone,” Escudero and Bueno point out.
A reality that, however, can be altered in the medium and long term. “In a context of falling fertility and an increase in the percentage of single mothers and women who are not mothers, support for sons and daughters during old age could be reduced to the detriment of other types of relationships. In the worst case, it could also lead to an increase in people who have no one to talk to about their daily problems, thus increasing the incidence of risks associated with loneliness”, they explain.
In addition to the role of children, “physical proximity is another important factor in providing social support. Around 95% of the people who are related to people who live alone reside in the same municipality or in the same province in all age groups. These figures could indicate that, despite living in an era of distance communication and new technologies, physical and close contact still seems essential to avoid the feeling of loneliness, since it is to be expected that the closer they are, the greater the probability of meet in person to talk ”, the researchers underpin.
The highest percentage of elderly people living alone without social support is registered in the autonomous city of Ceuta, doubling the national figure. Next come the Canary Islands and Castilla y León, where more than 13% of the elderly residing in single-person households have no one to talk to about their feelings. On the opposite side of the scale appear the Region of Murcia and La Rioja, with percentages below 9%, according to the INE. Celeste Lopez
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