Christmas and new year celebrations traditionally bring warm feelings of love, friendship and cheer. Many are known to feel saddened when, after a month-long build-up, the festive season approaches its end and we go back to routine.

But, for some, the end of the Christmas festivities is also a relief.

As the glittering lights are taken down and the Christmas carols are no longer the soundtrack to our lives, their loneliness is no longer amplified.

This emerged in the documentary on loneliness in Malta called Il-Ġerħa tas-Solitudni (The Wound of Loneliness) published by the university’s Faculty for Social Well-being. The documentary, in its second edition, raises awareness on the growing and pressing issue of loneliness. It shared the story of George Micallef who finds Christmas so painful that he does not decorate his home and asks carollers to sing away from his front door.

But not all people who feel lonely hide away. Some are visible in society and live and work in the heart of the festive cheer. What is not visible is the dark void they feel as they blend in as colleagues, friends and relatives.

Research carried out by the faculty in 2019 showed that 44 per cent of respondents were feeling lonely. That study was replicated last year and the figure rose to 55 per cent. 

That number is staggering and should be a wake-up call about the state of our society.

In another poignant Christmas video, led by a team of counsellors, the message was to look out for all the people around us during these times, even the ones who appear to be fine and happy. 

Because, sometimes, it is those people who “always seem fine”, those who cheer up others who are feeling lonely.

While there are multiple contributors to this social epidemic, one cannot ignore the impact of our collective infatuation with social media

Loneliness does not mean living alone or having no friends. People can be surrounded by family and friends and feel alone for a vast spectrum of reasons that include broken marriages, loss of loved ones, aging and mental health problems. Add to this the spiralling cost of living and the rat-race to make ends meet. The fast-paced nature of modern life, demanding work schedules and the erosion of traditional community bonds all play a role in the increasing isolation experienced by a significant portion of Malta’s population.

While there are multiple contributors to this social epidemic, one cannot ignore the impact of our collective infatuation with social media.

More studies are exposing the dark sides of social media platforms. Just like Christmas time, it can amplify what people do not have and what they long to have.

Social media, with its allure of constant connection, ironically promotes a culture of superficial relationships. The façade of digital connectivity often masks the absence of genuine human interaction, leading to a sense of loneliness that can be profoundly isolating.

Faculty dean Andrew Azzopardi has long been saying that nobody seems to be addressing loneliness seriously enough and pointed out that it does not feature in our social policy framework.

While loneliness should be addressed at government policy level, the first step is to face it on a personal, human level.

Maybe the first step is to try lift our eyes off our phones and computers to look at the people around us. Then it’s time to listen. And to care. We then need to encourage local events, communal spaces and support groups, which can provide avenues for individuals to connect authentically.

Because, unless we do so, we are increasingly at the risk of facing a pandemic with no vaccine in hand.