Over the last twenty years we have become less socially connected as a people. Although houses are closer to each other, people have grown further apart. 

I have often said that the greatest friend of depression is solitude. And we don’t have to live on our own to experience it. We just decide not to tell people how we are feeling. For different reasons we shut them out. Maybe we feel that they don’t understand our situation. Maybe it’s that we feel that we are annoying them with our worries. For whatever reason it’s the worse thing we could do – to shut people out of our lives. We need each other. Indeed community is the greatest resource we have.

Until recent years the pub was a valuable resource for harnessing community spirit. Although we have always had a serious alcohol abuse problem over the decades the pub was a wonderful base for social interaction. We went out for a couple of drinks and met other people. We came home with news from the town or village. We observed birthday celebrations or retirement presentations. The sandwiches were passed around and we chatted and chatted. We noticed new people. The publican often provided the only weekly chat for the elderly person who lived on their own. But the reality is that the traditional Irish pub is fading away. It is no longer a viable business option as people have turned to carry-outs and drinking at home. New legislation around drink-driving and smoking have provided the final hammer blows. It’s cheaper to bring the beer cans home but we end up in our own company more! We probably are drinking more than we used to and more than we need.

The decline of institutionalised church in Ireland is understandable in the context of increased secularisation, material and educational gain and the sex abuse scandals. Attendances are down at Sunday gatherings. Although Sunday Mass was a religious obligation it also played a very important community and social role. People connected with each other. We heard about who was sick, who had died and who needed our prayers. We saw a lot of the faces of our community as they made their way up and down to communion. Although the communion queue was never meant to be a part of the spiritual experience it was a human chain of many members of our community.

I am only making comment and wondering aloud. But over the last twenty years we have become less socially connected as a people. Although houses are closer to each other, people have grown further apart. When I was a young child I needed to walk half a mile and knock on a door if I wanted to kick ball. Nowadays children can stay at home and play games online with other children that they will never know or meet. Technology has impacted on the quality of conversation as text messages replace real words. Twitter means that we often get the news too soon and without meeting the people behind the news.
If depression thrives in solitude then it is only likely to grow more as people become more detached from each other. We have ten times more depression now than in the 1960s and childhood depression has dramatically increased in recent years. Maybe there is a link between the decline in social opportunities and increasing depression. Maybe there is a connection between declining spirituality and a sense of ‘detachment’ and hopelessness. So the moral is that we should be drinking and praying more!! Only joking but we should definitely be fostering community more and reaching out to people. Social connectedness is a major factor in mental wellness.