Loneliness as a public health issue
‘High rates of social isolation and loneliness around the world have serious consequences for health and well-being’
By Dr R Neerunjun Gopee
During a trip to Bali a few years ago, we went on an excursion in a forest, quite a large one, starting from a village adjoining it where we were putting up. On our return journey a couple of hours later, we saw a little hut deep in the woods where an elderly couple stayed.
Our guide told us that this is not an uncommon practice in the island – which is about four times the size of Mauritius – where an elderly person or a couple who felt they had completed their social responsibilities retired to forest to live in the midst of nature which provided them with their needs which were not many. Luckily there were no major threats from wild animals there. From time to time, they received the visit of children or passers-by but mostly they were on their own.
Loneliness. Pic – Gallup News
Because Hinduism prevails in Bali, perhaps this practice there should not surprise: in fact one of the tenets of Hindu culture is that in the four stages of life (student, family/social life, retirement, retreat), the last or fourth stage of life is to be spent in purely spiritual pursuit as a sanyasi. This refers to somebody who has actually retreated to the forest away from all and lives a life of contemplation on a quest for the Self. In modern times and societies, alas, forests have dwindled, urbanization has taken over and this quest is therefore to be pursued in different settings.Read More… Become a Subscriber
Mauritius Times ePaper Friday 26 July 2024
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