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12 results
  • Article
  • Article

Robinson Crusoe and the morality of solitude

| Professor Barbara Taylor

Robinson Crusoe, fiction’s most famous castaway, was certainly isolated, but did he suffer the intrinsically modern affliction of loneliness?

  • In pictures
  • In pictures

The hermit life from medieval to modern

| Kate Wilkinson

Can hermits get lonely? Explore solitary lives through the ages, from early religious ascetics to children imprisoned in churches, and on to those compelled to withdraw from modern life in the 21st century.

  • Article
  • Article

Sharing Nature: Alone

| Lalita Kaplish

Being alone in nature can be a contradictory experience of fear and freedom.

  • Article
  • Article

Mark O’Connell’s prescription for writing

| Jennifer Trent Staves

The Wellcome Book Prize shortlisted author of ‘To Be a Machine’ answers five questions on health, inspiration and storytelling.

  • Article
  • Article

Sharing Nature: Parks for people

| Danny Birchall

Paula Broom’s photograph of Sydney’s Centennial Park shows the complexity and joy we find in urban greenery.

  • In pictures
  • In pictures

Pum Dunbar’s living lessons

| Pum Dunbar

Read the ‘legends’ that give insight into Pum Dunbar’s creative process while producing her recent series of collages.

  • Article
  • Article

When everyday environments become anxious spaces

| Louise Boyle

Social anxiety disorder isolates those who experience it. Part of the solution is to design public spaces with mental health in mind.

  • Article
  • Article

The rise and fall of a medical mesmerist

Uncover the fascinating story of the doctor who popularised hypnotism as a medical technique, and could name Dickens among his famous friends.

  • Photo story
  • Photo story

Portraits, from a distance

| Michelle Sank

Join photographer Michelle Sank on her daily walk around Exeter. Strength, frustration, resilience and eccentricity all show in these candid images portraying life under the constraints of coronavirus lockdown.

  • Article
  • Article

Lonely bodies are hungry for more than turkey

| Dr Fay Bound Alberti

At Christmas, many charities provide dinners for homeless or isolated people. Food is central to festive celebrations, but it can also satisfy our hunger for belonging and community.

  • In pictures
  • In pictures

The post-war adverts that tried to cure lonely women

| Fred Cooper

Isolated housewives, lonely female office workers: while the 1950s saw the birth of a general concern about them, manufacturers also spotted an opportunity. Find out how advertising promised that products could salve solitude.

  • Article
  • Article

The solidarity of sickness

| Sinéad GleesonCamilla Greenwell

Visiting an injured friend in hospital prompts writer Sinéad Gleeson to reflect on the instant rapport forged between compatriots in the kingdom of the sick.