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- Loneliness can leave people feeling isolated and disconnected from others. It is a complex state of mind that can be caused by life changes, mental health conditions, poor self-esteem, and personality traits. Loneliness can also have serious health consequences including decreased mental wellness and physical problems.
www.verywellmind.com/loneliness-causes-effects-and-treatments-2795749
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But when loneliness is severe or lasts a long time, it can negatively affect our mental health. This report explores what it’s like to be lonely: its causes, consequences and the groups of people who are more likely to experience severe and enduring loneliness.
- Loneliness - Mental Health Foundation
Being lonely for a long time can lead to a negative spiral:...
- Loneliness - Mental Health Foundation
Feeling lonely can have a negative impact on your mental health, especially if you've felt lonely for a long time. Some research suggests that loneliness can increase stress. It's also associated with an increased risk of certain mental health problems.
- Executive summary
- 1. Introduction
- 2. About the participants
- 3. Loneliness and mental health
- 4. Stigma, mental health and loneliness
- 5. Experiences of loneliness across life stages
- 6. Support and interventions
- 7. Acknowledgements
This report presents the findings from a qualitative study exploring the experiences of loneliness among those who had experienced a mental health condition. Previous research has shown there is a link between experiences of loneliness and poor mental health. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) commissioned this study to explore this issue across four key life stages as part of developing the evidence base for work on tackling loneliness.
The study aimed to explore:
•how those with diagnosed mental health problems experience loneliness
•the extent to which social stigma associated with mental health conditions plays a role in experience of loneliness
•how experiences of loneliness among those who have experienced mental health conditions vary by life stage.
The report draws on findings from:
This report presents the findings of a qualitative study commissioned by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) that aims to understand the relationship between mental health and loneliness across four key life stages: early adulthood (18 – 30 years old); parents with young children (with children aged 5 or under); middle-age (...
2.1 Mental health conditions
There were a range of mental health conditions represented across the sample. These included: depression, anxiety (taking different forms[footnote 13]), schizophrenia, borderline personality disorder (BPD), bi-polar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), seasonal affective disorder (SAD), and specific phobias. Participants reported both single and multiple conditions, and a number of more complex conditions (such as schizophrenia or borderline personality disorder) manifested through symptoms consistent with depression or anxiety. There was a range of experiences of diagnosis and treatment, from more formalised diagnosis with participants receiving talking therapies and/or medication, to self-diagnosis with no formal treatment in place. Experiences of mental health conditions tended to fluctuate with participants describing this as a ‘rollercoaster’. The sample included both those who reported currently experiencing a mental health condition as well as those who reported this as being in the past only. Mental health conditions affected participants’ lives in a range of ways. Most obviously they manifested in symptoms affecting mood and emotions, including low mood, anger or irritability, crying, loss of joy, feelings of being overwhelmed or stressed, low self-esteem and negative self-talk. This could also lead to self-harm, suicidal thoughts or attempts. Experiences of hypervigilance, hallucinations, flashbacks, paranoia, mania, psychosis and dissociation were also reported, particularly among those with more complex or severe mental health conditions. Mental health conditions could also have physical effects, for example leading to chronic fatigue, insomnia, panic attacks or impact on diet. These symptoms could leave people unable to conduct daily activities such as being unable to work or study or unable to leave the house or travel. The severity of these impacts varied across the sample.
2.2 Life stage groups
Participants were from White British, White European, Black Caribbean, or South Asian backgrounds and fell into four life stage groups as set out in the sampling approach. This section provides a brief description of each of the four life stage groups.
2.2.1 Young adults
The young adult group included participants aged between 18 and 30. Participants were working or studying full- or part-time, or were not currently working or studying due to their mental health conditions. Participants also engaged with hobbies or other activities such as: going to the gym or playing football; online gaming; walking; taking care of pets; and playing musical instruments. This group tended to discuss greater use of online forms of socialising e.g. chatting online or making friends through gaming than other life stage groups. In terms of living arrangements, there were a range of situations, with people living alone, with a partner, with their parents, or in a shared house or student accommodation. Among this group, mental health conditions were as varied as in the overall sample and included depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, BPD, PTSD, bipolar disorder. Participants also experienced some physical or neurological conditions such as migraines or ADHD.
This chapter presents the main findings on the relationship between loneliness and mental health. It begins by exploring how loneliness was experienced and described by participants. It then examines participant and stakeholder views on the relationship between mental health and loneliness, and the type and quality of social relationships that part...
This chapter explores participants’ views on the stigma associated with mental ill-health and loneliness; how experiences of stigma produced or reinforced feelings of isolation and loneliness; and the effects this had on participants’ ability to seek help and support.
As highlighted in Chapter 3, mental health issues could lead to loneliness where people felt that they could not reveal their true feelings or struggles to others and so were unable to get emotional support from their social connections. Part of what prevented people being able to share their experiences was fear of the stigma associated with mental health conditions. This could relate to fear of the reactions that participants expected to receive from others or their own internalised stigma that their mental health issues were not worth sharing. This lack of feelings of closeness with those they expected or hoped to be understood by increased their feelings of loneliness.
This chapter presents findings on how key life events, as well as social expectations associated with different stages of life, affect experiences of loneliness and mental health. Across the sample, participants identified key events that they associated with episodes of loneliness or poor mental health. Some of these were linked with life stages, ...
This chapter presents the main findings on support accessed by participants for both mental health and loneliness and explores views on what made these effective. It further sets out participants’ recommendations for how support could be improved. Many of the interventions identified by participants that supported improvements in mental health also...
The authors would like to thank colleagues at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, particularly Adam Jenson, Jasmin Keeble and Daisy Sherratt who provided valuable input and support throughout the project. We would also like to thank Professor Manuela Barreto of the University of Exeter for providing her expertise throughout the proj...
- Man
- Depression
- Young adults
- 14
Dec 5, 2023 · Loneliness causes people to feel empty, alone, and unwanted. People who are lonely often crave human contact, but their state of mind makes it more difficult to form connections with others.
If loneliness is very severe or lasts a long time, it might increase the risk of some physical conditions such as dementia and mental health conditions such as stress, anxiety, low mood or depression. What causes loneliness? There can be many reasons for our loneliness – and sometimes there is no obvious cause and it's just how we feel.
Jan 1, 2021 · Adult physical activity. Loneliness and wellbeing. Summary. This report includes findings from the 2021 Health Survey for England (HSE) for adults aged 16 and over. It describes self-reported loneliness and subjective wellbeing, using the short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (SWEMWBS).
Being lonely for a long time can lead to a negative spiral: loneliness makes it harder to connect, which leads to people being afraid of social situations, meaning it is harder to find joy in life and escape negative thoughts.
