Health Does Australia need a Minister for Loneliness?

[The Dice Man]

My guitars are my friends when I feel a lil bit lonely.

When I was younger I couldn’t afford what I have now, but I played whatever I could. And I played well to my own ear.

An instrument can be such a friend.

 

[Billy ray]

In your 20s you care about what people think about you

in yours 40s you stop caring about what people think about you

in your 60s you realise no-one was actually thinking about you at all

 

[The Dice Man]

In your 20s you care about what people think about you

in yours 40s you stop caring about what people think about you

in your 60s you realise no-one was actually thinking about you at all

And this guy keeps me sane.

 

[raskolnikov]

My guitars are my friends when I feel a lil bit lonely.

When I was younger I couldn’t afford what I have now, but I played whatever I could. And I played well to my own ear.

An instrument can be such a friend.

Yep. My piano is my best buddy.

 

[The Dice Man]

Yep. My piano is my best buddy.

It's an escape, creation, and freedom all at the same time.

 

[Shell]

View attachment 781880


And this guy keeps me sane.

What's his name?

 

[The Dice Man]

What's his name?

It'e very ******* long and I cant even remember it these days. It's French.

But he's Leo, or My Buddy to me.

 

[revival_mode]

good thread topic, i dont know if i have anything to add but its something i struggle with personally. i have hobbies and whatever and try to keep busy and do things but it can be pretty hard at times. most of my mates are scattered across the country/world which is s**t tbh.

 

[Macpotata]

good thread topic, i dont know if i have anything to add but its something i struggle with personally. i have hobbies and whatever and try to keep busy and do things but it can be pretty hard at times. most of my mates are scattered across the country/world which is s**t tbh.

How old are you? What are your interests, hobbies etc?



( No homo. Not that there's anything wrong with that )

 

[Catters 070911]

I have found that the best solution to loneliness is getting a pet.

A pet can be a great companion. They don't care what you look like, what sort of person you are or about your bad habits. You feed it, look after it, and love it, they don't judge you and are loyal to you.

Stats have shown that older people who have a pet live longer than those without one. A pet gives the lonely someone to talk to and someone to live for.

 

[JW Frogen]

We do, and I nominate Bill Shorten.

 

[PT Bar None]

 

[Macpotata]

Go to the Philllipines to get wome

 

[Macpotata]

wome is good

 

[ferball]

What I 'like' is immaterial. Call me cold, but if you are lonely in 2019 I don't think you are any more special than someone who was lonely in 2009 or 1999 or in any other period. My long departed grandma was a stay at home wife/mum in a small country town for many years. That sounds pretty lonely to me but she didn't complain about it incessantly. Stoicism isn't always bad.

Every so often there is an article in the news here about how tough FIFO workers have it. Putting to one side that working FIFO is a choice people often make because of the financial reward on offer, rosters are shorter, conditions are better, communications technology is ten fold better etc. than in past decades. In the 1980s working FIFO could mean doing 4 weeks on 1 week off, sleeping two men to a room in a basic donga and the site maybe having a couple of landline phones to share to call home. Working overseas or offshore could mean not communicating with home for weeks or months at a time. But now it's hard working 7 or 8 days at a time, staying in your own room at a modern camp and being able to Facetime your wife and kids each night? Give me a spell.

People are feeling disconnected because they have been conditioned to a self-centered world view with a weird sense of entitlement to happiness all the time. How do you address that? I'm not sure. But I don't believe that people are genuinely more isolated than ever, just that their perspective tells them they are and therefore they should feel lonely. A lot of people do actually need to be told that their problems right now aren't actually that important in the grand scheme of things. It is amazing the perspective you gain just by considering that the universe doesn't revolve around you. Was playing with my mate's 2 year old the other week and if you cut up her sausage the wrong way or bring the wrong teddy when it's bed time it's a big deal. But she's 2, you grow out of that. Some more than others. If you feel you are lonely then go visit a dog shelter or an old folks home.

I would argue that with technology people are more connected than ever. When I was at school if I wanted to contact someone I would call their house. I had a handful of numbers committed to memory. My mobile phone now has all my email contacts, phone numbers, facebook friends etc. etc. at the tap of a finger. You can start a dialogue with someone by something as simple as commenting on a photo they post on social media. Previously it was call them, run into them somewhere or nothing. If you rely on technology and don't make meaningful efforts to engage with real friends (i.e. not the half a dozen people you haven't seen for 15 years that send you a token happy birthday message on facebook) then that's not really the fault of the technology.

/waffle

It's a cultural problem. Like a design flaw.

Consumer society relies on disconnection in the population to function. People need to be disconnected from everything to mindlessly consume.

If someone's perspective is that they are isolated then they are isolated. There's no difference. It's a bit like telling someone they aren't happy or sad they just think they are. If they think they are they are.

But I think you are right about the unreasonable expectation of happiness, to me is another consumer culture issue but not everyone is gonna see it that way.

People are even guilt tripped into medicating if they are depressed. Because depressed people aren't productive enough I presume. The leader of the free world, culturally gives humans the options of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Nietzsche noted God was dead 150 or so years ago so in the absence of her guiding hand all we've got is stuff like that seppo worldview I just quoted.

Consumerism relies on selling the illusion of happiness via ongoing uncontrolled spending (often of money you don't have). It relies on the illusion of connection via those devices. Conveniently money, well not money, purchase hungry things they are too.

You say we're more connected via tech than ever but only potentially. Lots of people are less connected to the world than the devices they obsess over. Probably why so many people freak out when they lose their phone or connection. It's a reminder of how disconnected from immediacy they are.

And that's why so many of the good solutions mentioned in this thread, including the ones you've mentioned, actually involve connecting to things then people in your community. In fact those ones are the only good solutions I reckon.

 

[ferball]

Smart phones are great if only for Google Maps. So easy navigating your way around a new place rather than having to look at a paper map or keep asking people for directions. Saved my arse a few times when I was in Europe in April.

Reading a map is good for your brain. Why are you getting a machine to do your thinking for you?