Loneliness is a major problem for seniors. They slow down, and their social circles slowly diminish until they spend all their time alone. A new survey of UK seniors reveals that they usually go a week without talking to someone.

UK Seniors Go a Whole Week Without Talking to Anyone

UK Seniors Go a Whole Week Without Talking to Anyone

 

The survey of 1,896 seniors showed that twenty-two percent would have a conversation with three or fewer people each week. Why is this a big deal?

This means that 2.6 million seniors don’t have daily human contact and 225,000 don’t talk to people at all.

The survey also showed that thirty-eight percent of seniors feel lonely as they’ve gotten older. The loneliness has gotten so bad for some that twelve percent said loneliness kept them from leaving their home.

Forty percent of seniors would feel more confident in leaving the house if they knew their neighbors. Fifty-four percent of seniors said that even a short conversation with a neighbor or acquaintance would brighten their day.

Read more about how loneliness can affect your health in our article, Loneliness Can Be Deadly for Elders; Friends Are the Antidote.

Read more about the UK survey here.