Image credit: Jonathan Daniel Pryce As you read this, a silent assassin is at work. Chronic isolation is one of the biggest threats to our mental health. An ageing population, social displacement and technology are factors pushing the global statistics for loneliness to the sky. In Australia, where suicide is the leading cause of death for people aged 15 to 44, one in 10 people lack social support, more than a quarter of the population feels lonely at least three days a week and more than one-fifth feels like they have no-one to turn to. In the UK, where last year a Minister for Loneliness was appointed, more than nine million people are either often or always lonely. In Japan the term kodokushi, meaning ‘lonely death’, describes people dying alone and remaining undiscovered. Kodokushi happens so often there is an entire industry devoted to it. US reports claim that […]