Report: Loneliness, Depression, and Mental Health in the Global World

This report provides an overview of the increasing prevalence of loneliness and depression in the contemporary world, examining the factors that contribute to these mental health challenges. It delves into the interconnectedness of loneliness and depression, exploring how social, economic, and technological changes influence mental well-being. The report analyzes the impact of individualism, social media, and economic instability on individuals, highlighting the experiences of those struggling with these disorders. It also discusses the assessment and treatment of loneliness and depression, including the importance of self-care, counseling, and social support. Furthermore, the report cites statistics from the World Health Organization and other research, emphasizing the global scope of these issues and the need for preventative measures. The conclusion summarizes the key findings, emphasizing the need for a comprehensive approach to address the growing mental health crisis.

Running Head: Justice and change in global world:
0
Justice and Change in Global
World
July 3
2019

Justice and change in global world: 1
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Loneliness and Depression..............................................................................................................2
Assessment 3...................................................................................................................................4
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
References........................................................................................................................................7

Justice and change in global world: 2
Introduction
This report summarize about the Op-Ed of the Increasing levels of loneliness and/or
depression. This particular topic was decided to choose for research because with the time the
problem of the depression and loneliness among the youth is increasing day by day. An
individual who is suffering from such mental disorder lose their interest in performing their daily
life activity. The analysis is conducted upon the reason behind these disorders. The Op-Ed of the
above topic is written after analysis of different research papers given by experts.
Loneliness and Depression
Lonelinessis one of the most common forms of disorder in urban societies; there are
basically two vital reasons for the loneliness and depression. First reason behind the loneliness is
adapting individualism culture. The people now days preferring to live alone, social policies
which are explaining about the neoliberal transforming people into unsafe about their jobs if
there is any adverse factor raise things start falling with them. Another reason behind the
loneliness or depression is developing or rising of the technology in which smartphones, social
media or internet are included. Before a decade multinational companies Facebook, Instagram,
Google, Apple etc. when launch their products they commit that these products will connect
people and help to maintain the relationships, also to build a healthy community. We all might
handle thousands of followers or friends through our Facebook or Instagram accounts but we all
failed to take care about human relationships. It is observed that people in present time are
getting affected intensively with the depression or loneliness; though there is no any specific data
is available which provides the information about these two disorders.
John Capioppo psychologist at university of Chicago provide a statement that loneliness
can be help a person to become productive or healthy, because this disorder motivates an
individual to become stronger and also to build good bonds socially. Psychologist John Cacioppo
gave their time in researching about the hazards of loneliness and depression. According to the
article which was recently published in that study it was concluded that in America 19% older
people are suffering from loneliness while 6% of adults in Britain are going through depression
or loneliness (LeMoult, & Gotlib, 2019).. Professor John Cacioppo has written in his article that
“The suggestions or the recommendation about the risk of loneliness and depression are limited
to a blog or column, no any practical actions are taken on these disorders.” In Britain when the

Justice and change in global world: 3
new ministry was formed rather than the official members rest other candidates young or old
were found with the risk of loneliness and depression. People of America and Britain where a
large number of populations is unemployed, poor, and getting migrate from different location are
suffering from the loneliness or depression or other mental disorders. Life of such people is not
stable as well as their relationships.
Depression is the condition of mental health, many people get sad, many of them faced
extreme sadness. Sometimes it becomes complicated to distinguish between being depressed or
being lonely because there is no any specific tests are defined which by which it could measure.
In a film festival a 4 minute duration movie was presented in which the girl who featured a girl
suffering from loneliness. It reminds me about the time of college when I was going through
loneliness, friendless, sadness etc. According to the scholars or researchers the major reason
behind the suicidal attempts amongst the adult is loneliness and depression (Perissinotto, Holt‐
Lunstad, Periyakoil, & Covinsky, 2019). James Middleton was one of the individuals who were
suffering from mental illness and they named it as cancer of mind. A 31 year old person provides
the statement about the loneliness and depress from his experience, He said “I was suffering
from loneliness and it is the feeling when an individual starts feeling him/her alone in world.”
This statement was published by him on his social media page. Over the entire year 2017
middleton found decrease in his mental health quickly. He explained “It is the situation where an
individual does not feel anything; the person realizes that he/she is exists without any purpose or
direction (Newall, & Menec, 2019).”
In year of 2017 middleton decided to spend his time near district of England’s Lake in the
presence of his dogs. He said “I knew that there are ways to get over from these situations there
are hopes, as I found a ray of hope inside the deep darkness.”
There are hopes always when a person wants to recover from any situation he/she can do
it. The only thing which matters is self-care and self-analysis. All an individual need to focus and
start to believe that everything which is happening is not permanent.

Justice and change in global world: 4
Assessment 3
Any individual in his/her life never wants to face the loneliness or depression, but these
are the disorders which most of the people are suffering and have experience in their life.
Loneliness is the feeling in which an individual finds him/her alone even when present in the
group of people or in crowd. The person who are suffering from this disorder; they are not able
to connect themselves with society or other people; they start treat themselves different from
others (Chamberlain, Cavanagh, de Boer, Mondelli, et al, 2019) The person starts feeling that
nobody is understand him/her. The person who is going through loneliness found him/her in
losing control over situations. It is the feeling that leads any person towards depression.
Loneliness cannot be defined as mental health issue but somehow they both are connected with
each other. When any person is suffering from any kind of disorder than there are chances that
person may feel the loneliness and have a negative impact on the mental health of that person.
Depression is the mental disorder which describes about the change in the mood of an
individual. It is one of the most common mental disorders also responsible for disability people.
Any individual who is suffering from depression he/she may experience different feelings every
day. These feeling may changes every day and it increases with the time. The feelings which an
individual can experience when suffering from depression are irritability, overwhelm,
worthlessness, guilt, sadness, fear, lack of motivation and loneliness (Theeke, Carpenter,
Mallow, & Theeke, 2019). When the discussion is conducted upon depression and loneliness
than there is a cycle which defines the interconnection between both. If the person is suffering
from the loneliness they start feeling sad and alone which leads him/her towards depression.
Depression is mostly examined in women rather than man. When the individual is depressed it
cut him/her down from other people due to which that person will found him/ her in state of
loneliness, and in this manner this cycle goes around. Both of these issues can be observed in
any age group and there symptoms are totally different according to the age group of an
individual. There are different types of depression which are categorized according to symptoms
which an individual can experience; they may be mild or sometime severe according to situation.
They are defined in two categories which are Major depressive disorder and persistent depressive
disorder.
Major depressive disorder is the severe type of depression having different feelings like
sadness, hopelessness, and worthlessness. While in the persistent depressive disorder which is

Justice and change in global world: 5
also known as dysthymia; a mild form of depression. The individual who are suffering from
loneliness they can be treated in much better way; their friends and family should make them
realize that they are not actually alone it is just a feeling which they are feeling due to some mis-
happening (Domènech-Abella, Mundó, Haro, & Rubio-Valera, 2019). Human brain focuses on
pain and danger which easily get the attention of loneliness. The feeling of loneliness confuses
the individual and force to think him/her as a loser and put in the situation of worthlessness. In
this situation the loved ones of that person should try to communicate and motivate them for the
cultivating friendship and being a social person. The children who become victims through
bullying lead them in loneliness and become sad starts feeling uncomfortable (Reynolds, 2019).
They become irritate and also affect their educational background. For this their parents should
discuss with them, they should motivate them to fight against the wrong, for children if they
found that their parents are supporting them and listening their concerns it build confidence in
them. The easiest way to break the cycle of the depression and loneliness is to identify it before it
gets started. It is that situation where the person get stuck. Person should take proper counseling
for dealing with the situation and challenges. Psychotherapists provide the appropriate ways to
overcome from these situations (Elsayed, El-Etreby, & Ibrahim, 2019). Sometimes owning a pet
helps the individual who are suffering from loneliness, the quiet faithfulness of the pet heals the
people who found themselves alone also boost them up with the moods.
Some experts advices that the people who are feeling loneliness they should spend their
time in writing a journal in which the person can note down every feeling every thought which is
revolving in his/her mind. Once this activity gets start by any person it will help them out to find
out the points which triggered them. They also can make a friend and share the feelings , their
concern with that particular friend when they will found that there is a person who listen them or
understand them. This will generate a trust and they will not find themselves alone and such
person starts to communicate with other people as well.
Basically there is no particular treatment available for depression but there are some
therapies which are suggested for the person who are in depression. The patient should perform
exercises and regular meditation which will develop concentration power in them. Meditation
will help the person to remain calm they will not get panic easily; also it controls their anger
which is major factor for the anger. Exercise triggered the brain cells and helps them to remain in
contact with the chemical which controls the behavior and mood of any individual. According to

Justice and change in global world: 6
the study of world health organization the total rise in the depression and loneliness among
people was measured 18.4% in 2015, and it is measured in the latest report that people of urban
or global areas are suffering mostly with depression and loneliness. In global areas almost half
population is suffering from these disorders. Unemployment, poverty, physical illness, drug
dependency etc. are some of the reason of depression in people. More than 300 million people
are suffering from problem of depression and loneliness which was analyzed by the world health
organization. For the age group of 15-24 years these two disorders are the second leading cause
of death, people attempt suicides due to depression and loneliness. In the research it was
identified that people who are not taking proper sleep affect the mood by not taking sleep lead to
irritability, sadness, fatigue which are the symptoms of depression. Also people should consume
healthy food which maintains the nutrition in the body which is responsible for all the triggering
of chemicals in brain (Wong, Dirghangi, & Hart, 2019).
Conclusion
This research study concludes the discussion on loneliness and depression which are
major problems and most common in people. These two disorders are increasing rapid rate
globally, the discussion is made on the reason behind the loneliness and depression. It is also
explained that loneliness and depression both are interconnected with each other. With the
different research which were performed by the health organization globally they provide the
statistics for both disorders. In this report the preventive measures are also discussed.
References
Chamberlain, S. R., Cavanagh, J., de Boer, P., Mondelli, V., Jones, D. N., Drevets, W. C., ... &
Bullmore, E. T. (2019). Treatment-resistant depression and peripheral C-reactive
protein. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 214(1), 11-19.

Justice and change in global world: 7
Domènech-Abella, J., Mundó, J., Haro, J. M., & Rubio-Valera, M. (2019). Anxiety, depression,
loneliness and social network in the elderly: Longitudinal associations from The Irish
Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA). Journal of affective disorders, 246, 82-88.
Elsayed, E. B. M., El-Etreby, R. R., & Ibrahim, A. A. W. (2019). Relationship between Social
Support, Loneliness, and Depression among Elderly People. International journal of
Nursing Didactics, 9(01), 39-47.
LeMoult, J., & Gotlib, I. H. (2019). Depression: a cognitive perspective. Clinical psychology
review, 69, 51-66.
Matthews, T., Odgers, C. L., Danese, A., Fisher, H. L., Newbury, J. B., Caspi, A., ... &
Arseneault, L. (2019). Loneliness and neighborhood characteristics: a multi-informant,
nationally representative study of young adults. Psychological science, 30(5), 765-775.
Newall, N. E., & Menec, V. H. (2019). Loneliness and social isolation of older adults: Why it is
important to examine these social aspects together. Journal of Social and Personal
Relationships, 36(3), 925-939.
Perissinotto, C., Holt‐Lunstad, J., Periyakoil, V. S., & Covinsky, K. (2019). A Practical
Approach to Assessing and Mitigating Loneliness and Isolation in Older Adults. Journal
of the American Geriatrics Society, 67(4), 657-662.
Reynolds, C. F. (2019). Promoting resilience, reducing depression in older adults. International
psychogeriatrics, 31(2), 169-171.
Smith, T. O., Dainty, J. R., Williamson, E., & Martin, K. R. (2019). Association between
musculoskeletal pain with social isolation and loneliness: analysis of the English
Longitudinal Study of Ageing. British journal of pain, 13(2), 82-90.
Spithoven, A. W. M., Cacioppo, S., Goossens, L., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2019). Genetic
contributions to loneliness and their relevance to the evolutionary theory of
loneliness. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 14(3), 376-396.
Theeke, L., Carpenter, R. D., Mallow, J., & Theeke, E. (2019). Gender differences in loneliness,
anger, depression, self-management ability and biomarkers of chronic illness in
chronically ill mid-life adults in Appalachia. Applied Nursing Research, 45, 55-62.
Wong, A. E., Dirghangi, S. R., & Hart, S. R. (2019). Self-concept clarity mediates the effects of
adverse childhood experiences on adult suicide behavior, depression, loneliness,
perceived stress, and life distress. Self and Identity, 18(3), 247-266.