Patient advocate sees loneliness as Germany's "biggest widespread disease"

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Alone in the city center of Düsseldorf: It is no longer just the elderly who are affected by loneliness

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Rolf Vennenbernd / dpa

According to the Patient Protection Foundation, loneliness is “the biggest widespread disease in Germany”.

It is no longer just the elderly who are affected, said the chairman of the foundation, Eugen Brysch, to the dpa news agency on Saturday.

»In contrast to the last few years, more and more 60 to 70 year olds are reporting that they feel lonely.«

It therefore falls short, according to Brysch, when Federal Family Minister Lisa Paus (Greens) appeals to those affected to seek help of their own accord and to use offers such as telephone counseling.

The minister has declared the loneliness that has grown in all parts of the population, especially during the Corona period, to be one of her core issues and announced in the summer that she would develop a strategy together with experts and specialists by the end of the legislative period on how loneliness can be combated or how the institutions could be made aware of it .

more on the subject

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• "Affects many people": Family Ministry is working on a strategy against loneliness

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Doing something against the growing loneliness in society cannot only be left to institutional providers, said Brysch.

"It is much more important that each of us sensitizes himself to this common disease." It is important to take personal responsibility and to have the "courage to speak out".

Christmas in particular offers a particularly good opportunity »to give the single people next door a gesture of togetherness«.

Even a short greeting, a short conversation in the stairwell or on the sidewalk can be helpful, says Brysch, who wants to encourage people to simply knock on the neighbor's door or drop by on the holidays.

“Let's ring the bell.

That can be the key to a person-to-person connection.«

bor/dpa