WHO: Over 870,000 people die annually from loneliness

WHO image

The World Health Organisation on Monday said that no fewer than 871,000 people die worldwide annually from loneliness.

According to the WHO Commission, one in six people worldwide is affected by loneliness, which, along with social isolation, can lead to physical illness.

It said that loneliness increases the risk of strokes, heart attacks, diabetes, depression, anxiety and suicide.

The WHO said that lonely teenagers are 22 per cent more likely to achieve lower grades than their peers, while lonely adults face greater challenges in finding or keeping a job. The impact is not only individual but also societal, with billions in costs to healthcare systems and losses in employment.

The commission’s co-chair, Vivek Murthy, defines loneliness as “a painful, subjective feeling that many of us experience when the relationships that we need do not match the relationships that we have.

“And social isolation, by contrast, is an objective state of having few relationships or interactions.” Punch