Ae o le loneliness, o se lagona faanoanoa pe o'otia ona ua ola to'atasi e aunoa ma se mafutaga mafana poo se mafutaga fiafia ma seisi poo nisi tagata.
E mafai fo'i ona maua se tagata i lagona ua lonely poo le loneliness e ui o loo auai i se mafutaga ma nisi.
E mafai ona faapea mai se tagata - I am lonely - e ui o loo nonofo ma sona to'alua ma nisi tagata o sona aiga.
I se ripoti a le Ending Loneliness Together, na latou fesiligia ai ni tagata e 'ova i le 4,000 i Ausetalia i o latou lagona - pe o lonely ma faamatalaina lagona e tula'i mai ai.
Mo le tina ia Lorraine Fabb i Melbourne, ua 80 tausaga lona soifua, na iai taimi na lagona ai lona faanoanoa ona o le nofo to'atasi ma leai seisi e talanoa ma mafuta iai.
Ae i le taimi nei, o loo auai faifaipea Lorraine i se 'au siva poo se vasega o le ballroom dance mo tagata matutua, ua maua ai se mafutaga ma isi tagata, ma fa'aauau ai ona fai sana faamalositino.
"Dance is... it's holistic exercise. It's so important. It's important physically, cardiovascular, emotional, intellectual in every possible way. Dance is truly holistic exercise. And again, it brings people together. So you're actually mixing with people. It's a social thing. It doesn't get any better. I can't think of any other activity that provides so much."
Na faaalia e Lorraine taimi na lagonaina ai lona faanoanoa ona ua pei ua motusia se soifuaga na fiafia iai, ma na amata i le taimi na litaea ai ma le toe faigaluega.
I taimi o Sa ma Vavao o puipuiga o le pepesi o le KOVITI-19, na ia lagonaina ai le loloto o le loneliness ina ua nofo to'atasi i lona fale ma ua le mafai ona asiasi pe tafao i mea sa masani ai.
Sa na o ia ma lana pusi lo la fale.
"Then my cat died. The cat had been my companion right through the whole thing. Of course I've got my son, I've got my friends and so on. But we couldn't actually socialise. We couldn't do anything through the lockdown. So it was a very lonely period."
Ina ua tatala Sa ma Vavao o le KOVITI-19, na ia maua ai se fesoasoani mai le faalapotopotoga le Connect Local, o se polokalame maua fua e feso'ota'i ai tagata ua 'ova i le 65 tausaga le matutua ma mafai ai ona ulufale i le University of the Third Age, o se nofoaga e maua ai 'au'aunaga ma fesoasoani mo tagata matutua.
O le Ending Loneliness Together o le faamalu o faalapotopotoga e gafa ma mata'upu i le suesueina ma fesoasoani i tagata e maua ma a'afia i le loneliness.
E pei ona faamatalaina e Dr Michelle Lim, o se Research Fellow i le Swinburne University of Technology i Melbourne, o le loneliness e 'ese'ese i tagata ta'ito'atasi. E le tutusa i tagata uma - o nisi e lagonaina ae o nonofo ma aiga ma isi tagata, o nisi e lagonaina ina ua faanofo'esea pe ua tu'ua na o i latou.
"Loneliness affects everyone. And this is why our theme for the year is lonely, not alone. So you can be surrounded by people but still feel lonely. And it's really important that we actually don't confuse loneliness with being alone. Loneliness is defined as a subjective feeling of social isolation where you feel your social relationships do not meet your current social needs. Loneliness is subjective. So it can look very different for many people. People who are lonely do report that they feel like perhaps they don't have anyone to turn to or talk to or perhaps they feel misunderstood by people despite kind of having these interactions with others."
Na iloa i le ripoti o le 30% o tagata na fesiligia na maua i lagona o le loneliness - o le 15% na faaalia lo latou a'afiaga matuia mai lagona faanoanoa ma o'otia ona o mafutaga motusia.
Na iai fo'i ma se talitonuga o le to'atele o tagata e maua i le loneliness o tagata matutua.
Peita'i na iloa i le suesuega o le to'atele o tagata e maua i le loneliness o tupulaga talavou i le va o le 18 ma le 24 tausaga le matutua.
Mo nisi o tupulaga, o le tele o taimi e alu i masini computers ma le social media ua mafua ai le lonely ma faigata ai ona opogi mafutaga mafana ma isi tagata.
Na faaalia e Phil McAuliffe ua 50 tausaga lona matua, e ui ina sa faaipoipo ma tausi lana fanau, ae na ia lagonaina pea lona lonely.
"There was an article about how loneliness is widespread in middle aged men. And I read it and the penny dropped. My stomach sank. And I thought this is me. And I realised that I was showing up in life, really for everything else, but not myself. And indeed, I'd spent such a long time trying to be what I thought other people expected of me. And you know what other people thought were my abilities and capabilities, that I forgot to be me in all of that."
O le isi tulaga na faigata ai le soifuaga o Phil ona e ui sa faaipoipo i se tamaita'i ma maua ai sana fanau, o lona lava soifuaga na lilifa iai ona lagona o isi tane - poo Phil o se alii e gay.
Na ia amataina se faalapotopotoga e faaigoaina o le The Loneliness Guy - mo alii e gay pe faafafine.
"I could tell that there was like really chronic deep loneliness, that was making them feel horrible. And they were looking for connection in potentially very unhealthy, very ineffective ways. And I thought, actually, I can help. I know something about this, I've got a platform, I know how to blog, I know how to podcast."
E pei ona ta'ua muamua, o le loneliness o lagona faanoanoa ma o'otia i le leai o ni mafutaga mafana ma fiafia.
Ae le tutusa ma le alone - poo le nofo to'atasi.
E mafai e se tagata ona ola i le vaomatua na o ia ae le lonely. Ae mo nisi, e nonofo faatasi ma se to'alua ma le aiga, ae maua i a'afiaga o le loneliness.
E talitonu nisi o le ituaiga mafutaga o loo ola ai se tagata e faalagolago iai pe lonely pe leai. A le fiafia ma faamalieina ai mana'oga faaletagata, e leai se ese'esega pe tumu le fale i isi tagata, ae lagoaina pea le loneliness.
E pei ona faamatalaina e Michelle Lim, e pei o se faamanatu mai i tagata e toe fotua'i mafutaga ma isi tagata.
"So if we feel lonely, it's a really a signal for us to reach out and connect with people. It's really important for us first, to understand that this feeling is normal, it is just a signal for you to seek the meaningful connections that you need. The other thing that we can think about is what has worked for us in the past and think about those activities. And what was meaningful to you in the past could actually be something that could work because again, the last thing really is around understanding what kind of resources that you might have. And if you don't have many people around you, it's actually okay to improve the quality of the relationships you already have. So we don't all have to make new friends, we can also focus on the current relationships that we have."
O nisi tagata e matuia a'afiaga mai le loneliness o i latou e a'afia i gasegase ogaoga. Ua faigata ai ona tafafao ma faia nisi o mea sa masani ona fiafia iai.
Mo nisi o le tele o le taimi e alu i luga o le social media ua faigata ai ona faavae ma opogi mafutaga mafana ma fiafia ma isi tagata.
E pei ona faaalia e le tina o Lorraine, loka lau telefoni, tape lau computer, alu i fafo, savali, talanoa ma mafuta ma isi tagata.
"Get off your backside, go out, get off away from technology, put your phone down, get away from the computer, and actually go out and mix with people. Talk to people, ask questions, find things that you don't know about. I think the worst thing that anybody on their own can do is to sit there and say, what's going to happen? Nobody is helping me, well, turn it around, and get out and find what you can and make it happen for yourself."
A e mana'omia se fesoasoani, vala'au le Lifeline i le 13 11 14.
(O le ripoti na faamaopoopoina e Peggy Giakoumelos o le SBS News, tapenaina mo faasalalauga i le gagana Samoa e Ioane Tiperio Lafoa'i).
