The Epidemic of Loneliness
Sociology is the study of people’s social behavior and institutions. Someone who has a sociological imagination will look at people’s behavior and think “what is causing them to act in this way? How do institutions, such as the government, influence them?” A person with a sociological imagination will draw relationships between a person, and everything that surrounds that person. A person with a sociological imagination would try to link the rising feeling of loneliness with outside influences, as opposed to internal dysfunctioning. In the world today, there is a continuous rise in feelings of loneliness. This is especially evident in the elderly, who often have little to no interaction with other people on a …show more content…
The researcher may define feelings of loneliness differently than the person being surveyed. Matter says she believes that the rise in social disconnection, however, is real and due to the rise of individualistic culture and, ironically, social media. Modern societies, such as America, culturally push making it on your own with limited help, as opposed to a collectivist society which prioritizes groups. This, paired with the rising dependency on social media to establish relationships as opposed to face to face communication, has led to difficulty to have meaningful social …show more content…
We have a society longing for social connection that simultaneously stigmatizes loneliness. According to Hafner, the United Kingdom has a telephone hotline for the elderly, called the Silver Line, to call for any reason. More often than not, people will ring in for mundane things in order to have a conversation with someone, and feelings of loneliness are rarely mentioned. I believe our modern society generally shuns the idea of loneliness and shames people who will admit to it. However, I have personally noted a general growth in acceptance and conversation about all things related to mental health in my own circle of friends and acquaintances, primarily through the promotion of awareness on media platforms. Sadly, these same platforms are also being used to stigmatize these issues and play a role in the difficulties of social connectivity. Our society, I believe, disregards the needs of our elderly because society is slowly growing into a fast paced bureaucratic one, highly dependent on new technology. In a bureaucracy, everything is efficient and strictly regulated. While this may be a business oriented term, I believe that bureaucratic tendencies seep into our daily lives, with many people concerned with getting as much done as possible as the quickest pace. Unfortunately, this lifestyle excludes elder members of society, who tend to
Sociology is the study of people’s social behavior and institutions. Someone who has a sociological imagination will look at people’s behavior and think “what is causing them to act in this way? How do institutions, such as the government, influence them?” A person with a sociological imagination will draw relationships between a person, and everything that surrounds that person. A person with a sociological imagination would try to link the rising feeling of loneliness with outside influences, as opposed to internal dysfunctioning. In the world today, there is a continuous rise in feelings of loneliness. This is especially evident in the elderly, who often have little to no interaction with other people on a …show more content…
The researcher may define feelings of loneliness differently than the person being surveyed. Matter says she believes that the rise in social disconnection, however, is real and due to the rise of individualistic culture and, ironically, social media. Modern societies, such as America, culturally push making it on your own with limited help, as opposed to a collectivist society which prioritizes groups. This, paired with the rising dependency on social media to establish relationships as opposed to face to face communication, has led to difficulty to have meaningful social …show more content…
We have a society longing for social connection that simultaneously stigmatizes loneliness. According to Hafner, the United Kingdom has a telephone hotline for the elderly, called the Silver Line, to call for any reason. More often than not, people will ring in for mundane things in order to have a conversation with someone, and feelings of loneliness are rarely mentioned. I believe our modern society generally shuns the idea of loneliness and shames people who will admit to it. However, I have personally noted a general growth in acceptance and conversation about all things related to mental health in my own circle of friends and acquaintances, primarily through the promotion of awareness on media platforms. Sadly, these same platforms are also being used to stigmatize these issues and play a role in the difficulties of social connectivity. Our society, I believe, disregards the needs of our elderly because society is slowly growing into a fast paced bureaucratic one, highly dependent on new technology. In a bureaucracy, everything is efficient and strictly regulated. While this may be a business oriented term, I believe that bureaucratic tendencies seep into our daily lives, with many people concerned with getting as much done as possible as the quickest pace. Unfortunately, this lifestyle excludes elder members of society, who tend to