2023-12-03 08:17:55
For many people, Advent is a particularly emotional time in which no one should be lonely. But especially following the pandemic and due to rising prices, many people have no one to talk to in person. “What we are observing is that loneliness is a totally underestimated need. A need of our time that is much more widespread than we assume,” said Caritas director Klaus Schwertner in the APA interview. Very few people want to talk regarding it, the shame is too great.
Even before the pandemic, according to a Eurostat study, 372,000 people in Austria said that they had no one to talk to in person. “That’s actually an incredibly large number,” said Schwertner. The pandemic and now inflation have made the situation even worse. If “there is no one at home, the situation is of course dramatic.” And now in the cold season, when it is already pitch black at 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. and the days are gray, the inquiries to Caritas are increasing, reported the Caritas director. And Christmas Eve at the latest will be “something like the hardest day of the year” for these people, says Schwertner. “Because on evenings like these it becomes very clear that you are lonely.”
“Loneliness can affect anyone, of all ages.” The topic affects both genders equally. Women find it easier than men to maintain social contacts. On the other hand, women are often affected by social isolation as single parents or caring relatives.
The topic is reluctant to be discussed openly. “You do everything you can to ensure that no one notices that you are lonely,” emphasized the Caritas director. Especially in rural areas, people don’t want their neighbors, in the parish or in the pub to know that they have no one. People find it very difficult to accept help. It is important to Schwertner to emphasize that the topic is regarding an individual assessment. Even though someone has family, friends and acquaintances, “they can still feel lonely.” That’s the difference from being alone. “We all have a need to be alone at times, to have time for ourselves, but loneliness is an unwanted, negative feeling,” said the Caritas director.
In order to maintain a status quo, Caritas and the SORA Institute surveyed 1,000 people regarding loneliness at the beginning of last year. 65 percent are of the opinion that this problem has increased in Austria. Every second respondent is convinced that loneliness is still a taboo topic in 2023. “Just like the topic of poverty, the topic of death. We as a society don’t talk regarding that, unfortunately,” said Schwertner. “Who likes to say of themselves, I’m lonely? Likewise, who likes to say of themselves, I’m poor.” The two topics often go hand in hand. Every third person in the lowest income category had to limit their social contacts due to inflation. “It is difficult to be anywhere without consuming something,” says Schwertner.
In the SORA survey, half of Austrians expressed the wish that politicians should take more measures to address the issue. “We appeal that loneliness should be on the political agenda,” said Schwertner. There are already extensive measures in other countries, such as in Great Britain, Germany or the Netherlands. “There would need to be something like a pact once morest loneliness or a government representative who would deal with the issue of loneliness.” In Great Britain, for example, the topic was incorporated into the health system and general practitioners were used as an interface to social work (“social prescribing”). In the course of this, people who are affected by loneliness are given a kind of prescription for appropriate offers in order to be able to lead a good, high-quality and satisfied life.
Caritas has several initiatives to counteract the problem. During the first lockdown of 2020, the chat network was developed together with Magenta within a few weeks. The so-called chat hotline connects you with chat partners who have volunteered because they like to talk and listen. There are now 4,000 volunteers. “It is unbelievable how well the offer is being accepted,” said the Caritas director, emphasizing that this is only a preventive measure and not a crisis hotline for acute cases.
The chat network is available daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Since it was founded, almost 40,000 telephone calls have been made. “The conversations last on average 30 minutes, which is really long,” says Schwertner. A million minutes of telephone calls have been made so far. “I’ve had conversations like that myself and it’s of course a bit unusual at the beginning when you’re on the phone with someone who is a total stranger.” But it is “touching and impressive” how common ground can be found in such a short space of time, especially in such a crisis-ridden time due to inflation, terror, war and climate change. In October and November 2023, 50 percent more conversations were recorded than in the comparable period of 2022.
So far there have been more than 5,800 callers. There are now also so-called Plauderbankerl with 100 benches in Vienna and Lower Austria. The public places are marked where you can consciously sit down to listen to someone else. After the topic: “I take my time, I listen to you,” Schwertner emphasized. Because it turned out that the telephone was a much better way to communicate with each other than social media. “For many people it is simpler, lower-threshold access than a telephone call.” But it is precisely there that an ideal world is often conveyed. “I constantly see other people who feel like they are doing much better than me. This reinforces the feeling that others are doing better than me, have it better than me,” said Schwertner.
Caritas has 47,000 volunteers who are involved in a wide variety of projects. People who want to do something meaningful, want to experience community, who have a good feeling, said Schwertner. The SORA survey also found that 40 percent see their social engagement as a way to counteract their own loneliness.
(SERVICE – Some offers from Caritas once morest loneliness, for example with the hotline on 05 1776 100. From the beginning of December, 42 warming rooms in parishes in Vienna and Lower Austria will open their doors and serve guests. Once a week, the virtual chat room is filled with people who talk regarding different topics, exchange ideas, play games together, with a trained moderator at chaterraum.caritas-wien.at. Open2Chat at is also a free, anonymous online accompaniment from young people for young people. open2chat offers young people the opportunity to chat online with their peers regarding their worries, questions and problems. open2chat is free and anonymous. Further information at
Are you in a desperate situation and need help? Talk to other people regarding it. The Ministry of Health’s suicide prevention portal offers help for people with suicidal thoughts and their relatives. Under www.suizid-praevention.gv.at You can find contact details for aid organizations in Austria.)
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