Mental Health Awareness Week: The importance of tackling loneliness

Loneliness is a key driver of poor mental health and is often associated with elderly people. Yet it is certainly not confined to this age group. As chair of the Anna Freud Centre, we see that it is a problem for the young as well and can affect them for the rest of their lives. 

Mental health awareness week begins today (9 May) and the theme is loneliness. Though loneliness is not a mental illness in and of itself, the two are closely related. Mental illness can make us feel lonely and loneliness may lead to or exacerbate mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety. Indeed, it is associated with a number of health issues, both physical and mental. These include increased risk of heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, cognitive decline, dementia, and depression. Most strikingly perhaps, research has shown that loneliness has the same impact on mortality as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Loneliness is not just a physical and mental health problem, it is also a social and economic problem; it is estimated that loneliness costs the UK £2.5bn per year.

Unsurprisingly, Covid-19 has made the problem of loneliness worse. In March 2020, social isolation became a necessity and lockdowns a part of everyday life. Many people were cut off from regular social contact. General anxiety surrounding the virus has exacerbated loneliness. From March 2020 to November 2020, the extent of loneliness rose from 10 per cent of UK adults to 25 per cent. Research has shown that the pandemic took its toll on the mental health of young people and many of them felt lonely. An academic study published last summer showed that whilst other signs of mental health were improving, loneliness and anxiety among British teenagers remained high. Loneliness was as common in July 2021 as in March 2021, with 64 per cent of teenagers saying they ‘sometimes’ or ‘often’ have no one to talk to and 66% saying they ‘sometimes’ or ‘often’ feel alone.

Although Covid may have exacerbated loneliness, it is not its root cause. Noreena Hertz’ seminal work, The Lonely Century: Coming Together in a World That’s Pulling Apart places the roots of modern loneliness in increasing dependence on technology, radical changes to the workplace, and decades of policy that have placed self-interest above the collective good 

When it comes to loneliness, rates are high amongst older people. A total of 1.4m older people in the UK are often lonely and half a million older people go at least five or six days a week without seeing or speaking to anyone at all. The problem is set to get worse. The number of over-50s experiencing loneliness is set to reach two million by 2025/6.

As well as the elderly, other social groups experience higher levels of loneliness. The ‘Barriers to Belonging’ report by Co-op and the British Red Cross found people from ethnic minorities are more likely to feel lonely than their white, British counterparts and face greater barriers in accessing help to overcome loneliness. LGBTQ+ people may feel more lonely than heterosexual, cisgender people, especially older LGBTQ+ people who are more likely to live alone and less likely to have children than their heterosexual, cisgender counterparts.

Though discussions around loneliness often centre around older people – and understandably so – we need to ensure young people are not left behind. The pervasive use of technology and social media can exacerbate online bullying and feelings of anxiety and inadequacy. Young people may have hundreds of virtual friends and very few real friends. Scrolling through social media accounts hour after hour can actually increase feelings of loneliness and isolation. Lonely young people invariably have poor mental health. This should concern us. Mental health problems developed as children – 50 per cent of mental health problems are established by age 14 – and can last a lifetime. Young people with poor mental health have reduced chances of personal and professional fulfilment.

A number of public, charitable, and private sector organisations are trying to address loneliness. Four years ago, then Prime Minister Theresa May launched the government’s first loneliness strategy, following recommendations made by a commission into loneliness established by the late Jo Cox. 

The UK has appointed a minister for loneliness, distributed over £20m to projects and launched the #LetsTalkLoneliness campaign which brings together charities, organisations, and businesses to help people talk about their feelings. The government is using technology to run a loneliness advice chatbot service via WhatsApp. At the Anna Freud Centre, a charity focused on mental health for children and families, we are focused on effective mental health interventions for young people. We are very active in schools, producing resources on mental health in schools for teachers, which includes a specific pack on tackling loneliness.  

We realise that there is no silver bullet, and we all have a role to play. Improving the nation’s mental health, will have a salutary impact on loneliness and vice-versa. Loneliness is something which everyone is vulnerable to, not just the elderly but the young too. Fears about not being a burden often prevent people from speaking out. This Mental Health Awareness Week, we should all take the responsibility to reach out to someone we know and love as well as someone we might not know so well and remember that, despite all their likes on social media, young people get lonely too.

Michael Samuel MBE is the chair of the Anna Freud Centre.