A 14-year-old girl sits alone in her room. She's been there all day, playing music, with her pet guinea pigs providing her only company. "I don't have many friends," she says, her voice thick with unshed tears. "My confidence levels are non-existent. I feel invisible, I guess. I've always felt that way about myself but it's gotten worse since high school."
Across town a 75-year-old man is also sitting alone. Having survived the pancreatic cancer that was supposed to kill him eight years ago, he has no partner or family. And while he volunteers for the Cancer Council during the day to fill his hours, meaningful connections are slim to none.
"What really is there to look forward to?" he queries. "To be honest with you, I feel like I'm in God's waiting room, just waiting to die."
Loneliness is something we all feel from time to time, even if our world is filled with people and frequent social interactions. But for two specific age groups, loneliness is having devastating impacts on both physical and emotional health.
So, when the producers of hit documentary Old People's Home for 4 Year Olds embarked upon a third series, they came up with a twist on the intergenerational experiment that they hoped would have a similarly positive effect on participants young and old.
Denne historien er fra September 2022-utgaven av Australian Women’s Weekly NZ.
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Denne historien er fra September 2022-utgaven av Australian Women’s Weekly NZ.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
PRETTY WOMAN
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Hitting a nerve
Regulating the vagus nerve with its links to depression, anxiety, arthritis and diabetes could aid physical and mental wellbeing.
The unseen Rovals
Candid, behind the scenes and neverbefore-seen images of the royal family have been released for a new exhibition.
Great read
In novels and life - there's power in the words left unsaid.
Winter dinner winners
Looking for some thrifty inspiration for weeknight dinners? Try our tasty line-up of budget-concious recipes that are bound to please everyone at the table.
Winter baking with apples and pears
Celebrate the season of apples and pears with these sweet bakes that will keep the cold weather blues away.
The wines and lines mums
Once only associated with glamorous A-listers, cocaine is now prevalent with the soccer-mum set - as likely to be imbibed at a school fundraiser as a nightclub. The Weekly looks inside this illegal, addictive, rising trend.
Former ballerina'sBATTLE with BODY IMAGE
Auckland author Sacha Jones reveals how dancing led her to develop an eating disorder and why she's now on a mission to educate other women.
MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN
When Alexei Navalny died in a brutal Arctic prison, Vladimir Putin thought he had triumphed over his most formidable opponent. Until three courageous women - Alexei's mother, wife and daughter - took up his fight for freedom.
IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO START
Responsible for keeping the likes of Jane Fonda and Jamie Lee Curtis in shape, Malin Svensson is on a mission to motivate those in midlife to move more.