2023-11-07 21:21:19
One in four adults in Germany feels very lonely. This is shown by the Germany Depression Barometer 2023, which is based on a representative survey by the German Depression Aid and Suicide Prevention Foundation in cooperation with the Deutsche Bahn Foundation. 26 percent of those surveyed also stated that they had daily private contact with “zero to four” people.
According to the survey, people over 60 in particular have less social contact, but only 21 percent in this age group say they are very lonely. However, 26 percent of adults up to 59 years old feel this way. That is a “high number,” emphasizes Ulrich Hegerl. He is chairman of the board of the German Depression Aid Foundation. “We are a very individualistic society, and that may be a dark side of it.”
Loneliness is not directly related to depression
According to the barometer, 24 percent of those surveyed have also received a medical diagnosis of depression, which is an increase of one percent compared to the first Germany Depression Barometer published in 2017. However, a lonely emotional state is not directly related to depression. “The feeling of loneliness is part of the symptoms and less the cause than is often assumed,” says Hegerl about the diagnosis of depression.
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FAZ series Quick Smart: Where loneliness is more widespread in Germany Image: FAZ
Because depression is something other than a reaction to life circumstances. They are a serious illness, says Hegerl. A person affected must have the predisposition for this. “Even with good social contacts, you feel lonely when you are depressed.” 91 percent of those surveyed who were currently in an active depressive phase said they had a feeling of emptiness.
The feeling of loneliness, on the other hand, is part of being human. “I think everyone felt lonely at some point,” said Hegerl. Finally, the number of adults with depression did not increase during the corona pandemic and the contact restrictions of the lockdowns. Above all, Corona made the course of the illness more difficult, but did not lead to more sick people overall.
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The survey surveyed more than 5,000 adults between the ages of 18 and 69. Every year the barometer focuses on a thematic focus; this year it is primarily about loneliness in the German population. According to the German Depression Aid Foundation, eight percent of people in Germany suffer from depression that requires treatment.
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