The survey took place between December 19 and 28, with 1,003 respondents surveyed. These data are representative of Latvian residents aged 18-74 who use the Internet at least once a week.
According to survey data, 22% of men and 26% of women feel lonelier in autumn and winter, while 12% of men and 13% of women feel lonely throughout the year.
Meanwhile, 63% of respondents said they felt no significant loneliness – 67% of men and 61% of women respectively.
Looking at the responses by age group, it can be concluded that most often (32%) people aged 18-29 experienced loneliness in the dark months of the year, and less often, or 19%, residents aged 40-49. People aged 18-29 were also more likely to feel lonely throughout the year – a fifth of all those surveyed in this age group, while less often, only 7% of residents aged 50-59 and 60-74 provided such a response.
Overall, 70% of those surveyed aged 60 to 74 do not experience significant loneliness, while respondents in the 50-59 age group are one percent behind. Also, 40-49-year-olds often (67%) said they do not experience significant loneliness; 57% of respondents aged 30-39 and 48% of respondents aged 18-29 said they don't experience loneliness.
Commenting on the fact that young people were more likely to respond that they experience loneliness, psychotherapist and LSM.lv author Agija Tomme explained – this could be related to new professional challenges, for example.
“By maneuvering the pace of study and the start of working life, young professionals face a strong sense of competition, a willingness to achieve their own, family and societal expectations productively, to rapidly reach the top of the career ladder, and to build meaningful partnerships quickly in parallel. Of course, the big change from high school to “adult life” also involves losing your previous life, and the loss, in turn, involves a grieving process that is kind of isolating - so you have to give up your previous identity and feel into your new one. In addition, if there is a desire to grow rapidly in the professional world and assert yourself, this can include longer hours of work, as well as not always managing to build friendly relationships with colleagues, especially when there is a need to compete. ”
LSM.lv analyzed the problem of loneliness in a series of articles in December, with psychotherapist Tomme describing that the feeling of separation affects the entire world, especially two age groups: young professionals and people of retirement age.
