孤独

There is a loneliness epidemic in the UK. 45% of people admit to feeling lonely at least some of the time. And one in eight adults report having no close friends. Loneliness can affect anyone at any time. Often, it’s triggered by life event, retirement, divorce, illness or even losing a loved one. But even seemingly positive events, like having a baby, moving home or starting a new job, can leave you feeling lonely.

But what is loneliness? As deeply social animals, most of us will feel the need to be around other people on a daily basis. And if we don’t, we can risk feeling isolated. But it’s possible to feel lonely even when we’re surrounded by a roomful of other people or we have a thousand or so friends on social media. Because it’s not just about solitude. It’s about our perception of belonging and having meaningful relationships with other people. Having a small number of strong social bonds is much more important than having a large number of superficial friendships.

在英国，孤独是普遍的现象。有45%的英国人承认至少有些时候会感觉到孤独。八分之一的成年人称自己没有亲密的朋友。孤独会在任何时候影响任何人。通常，孤独是由于生活事件、退休、离婚、疾病，或者是失去爱人而触发的。但即使是一些看似积极的事情，比如生孩子、搬家或开始一份新的工作，也会让你感到孤独。

那么孤独是什么呢？作为很强烈的群居动物，大多数我们都觉得每天需要和其他人在一起。如果我们不这样，我们就会有被孤立的感觉。但是即使当我们身边有一屋子人，或者我们在社交媒体上有非常多的朋友，我们依然会感觉到孤独。因为孤独并不是独处，而是我们的归属感以及与其他人建立有意义的关系。拥有少量的牢固的社会纽带要比拥有大量的肤浅的友谊更重要。