For most of us, the older we get, the more we slow down physically¹. But for some, growing old also means slowing down socially — so much to the point that some home-bodied seniors go days with little to no human interaction. A new survey of British elders sheds light on this sad, but true effect of aging, noting that hundreds of thousands of people often go a week without speaking to a single person.

对我们大多数人来说，年龄越大，我们的行动就越慢。但对一些人来说，变老也意味着社交活动的放缓，以至于一些居家的老年人几乎没有人际交往。一项针对英国老年人的最新调查揭示了老龄化带来的这一悲伤但真实的现状，有成千上万的老年人一周都不和一个人说话。

According to the survey of 1,896 seniors over 65 in the United Kingdom, more than one in five (22%) will have a conversation with no more than just three people over the span of an entire week! That translates to nearly 2.6 million elderly folks who don’t enjoy regular human contact on a daily basis. Perhaps most alarming though is researchers say an alarming 225,000 individuals will go a week without talking to anyone face-to-face.

根据对英国1896名65岁以上老年人的调查，超过五分之一(22%)的老年人在一整周的时间里只与三个人交谈!这意味着有近260万老年人不喜欢日常的人际交往。也许最令人担心的是，研究人员说，有22.5万人一周都不与任何人面对面交谈。

“A friendly ‘hello’ or ‘how are you?’ is something most of us take for granted – it’s just part of every day life, but these latest figures show that hundreds of thousands of older people in the UK will spend today and the rest of this week alone, with no one to share even a few simple words with,” says Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, which partnered with Cadbury Dairy Milk to commission the research, in a statement.

“友好的‘你好’或‘你好吗?’是我们大多数人都认为理所当然的事情——这只是日常生活的一部分，但这些最新数据显示，英国成千上万的老年人将在今天和本周剩下的时间里独自度过，没有人可以和他们分享哪怕是几个简单的词。”英国时代慈善总监卡罗琳?亚伯拉罕斯(Caroline Abrahams)在一份声明中表示。

The survey also revealed that 38% of seniors admit to feeling lonely at times as they’ve aged, with 12%, or about one in eight, agreeing that loneliness has kept them from leaving their home.

调查还显示，38%的老年人承认，随着年龄的增长，他们有时会感到孤独，其中12%的人(约八分之一)认为，孤独使他们无法离开家。

“Loneliness is a huge problem because retirement², bereavement³ and ill health mean many older people find they are spending a lot less time enjoying the company of others than they’d like,” says Abrahams. “Loneliness can affect your health, your wellbeing and the way you see yourself – it can make you feel invisible and forgotten.”

亚伯拉罕说：“孤独是一个巨大的问题，因为退休、丧亲和健康状况不佳意味着，许多老年人花在与他人相处上的时间比他们希望的要少得多。孤独会影响你的健康、幸福和你看待自己的方式——它会让你感到忽视和被遗忘。”

About 40% of seniors say they’d feel more confident to head out each day if they knew their neighbors. Just the thought of someone stopping to chat with them brightens their outlook: 54% of respondents agree that even a short conversation with a neighbor or acquaintance would greatly improve their day overall. And a quarter of older adults say it makes them feel good when someone smiles or acknowledges them while waiting in line at places like the bank or grocery store. One in five would be thrilled if someone stopped to ask them how their day had gone.

大约40%的老年人说，如果认识邻居，他们每天出门会更有信心。一想到有人停下来和他们聊天，他们的前景就光明了：54%的受访者同意，即使是和邻居或熟人简短的交谈，也会大大改善他们一天的整体状况。四分之一的老年人说，在银行或杂货店等地排队时，当有人微笑或向他们致意时，他们会感觉很好。如果有人停下来问他们一天过得怎么样，五分之一的人会很激动。

Meanwhile, another survey of 2,000 people ages 16-45 in the UK shows that 55% of younger folks admit to worrying about being lonely in their elder years. With that in mind, two-thirds of this segment say they’re willing to do something to help boost the confidence of a lonely senior, but 37% worry that such a gesture wouldn’t be well-received. Another 30% feel too shy to spark up a conversation with seniors, 27% admit they aren’t sure how to help, and a quarter say they’re simply too busy themselves.

与此同时，另一项针对2000名年龄在16-45岁之间的英国人的调查显示，55%的年轻人承认，他们担心老年时会感到孤独。考虑到这一点，三分之二的受访者表示，他们愿意做一些事情来帮助孤独的老年人增强信心，但37%的人担心这样的举动不会受到欢迎。另有30%的人感到害羞，不敢与老年人交谈，27%的人承认自己不知道该如何帮助老年人，四分之一的人说自己实在太忙了。