2023-10-12 11:08:40
Confinement has increased the isolation of Canadian seniors during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Montreal researchers who note in their study all the benefits of social contacts.
The Concordia University study, published Wednesday, notes that health measures imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic have caused a feeling of loneliness and distress as well as an increased rate of insomnia among the majority of elderly people.
The researchers who carried out the study for a year, after the declaration of a health emergency by the authorities, noted that living alone without social contacts and perceiving Covid-19 as a real threat reinforces the feeling of loneliness.
“People suffering from chronic loneliness can develop cognitive biases that make them less likely to reach out to others and can lead to real social withdrawal,” said Jean-Philippe Gouin, professor in the psychology department.
Of the 600 people followed, only 17.2% of the cohort displayed a mild and stable feeling of loneliness, while 34% indicated having experienced a strong feeling of loneliness from the first year of confinement.
This feeling was moderate and fluctuating in 48.8% of them, in whom the researchers however observed greater multimorbidity and psychological distress.
But among groups with strong or moderate feelings of loneliness, composed mainly of women living alone, researchers noted significant psychological distress, while they were more likely to view COVID-19 as a threat.
“In addition to suffering from the physical constraints linked to the pandemic, these people come to be afraid of bothering others, to feel uninteresting or unwanted in the eyes of others,” explained Professor Gouin.
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