Top tips for coping with loneliness
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New data has revealed that young people are more likely to feel lonely than older people with over two-thirds admitting to feeling lonely at least some of the time.
Commenting on this news, Paul Guess, mental wellbeing expert at caba, has revealed the impact loneliness can have on our mental wellbeing and shared his expert advice for coping with feelings of loneliness.
Paul Guess, mental wellbeing expert at caba, comments on the impact of loneliness on our mental health and advice to help support those struggling with loneliness:
“While our ageing population has been linked as one of the factors of social isolation, experiencing loneliness is much more common than you may think and can impact people of all ages.
Many factors can cause us to experience loneliness and it’s not uncommon for isolation to be caused by a major life change. It can be triggered by bereavement, changes to living or working conditions and ill health.
Experiencing loneliness can also increase the likelihood of anxiety and needing help with depression if we don’t take steps to overcome these feelings. It can also impact our physical health by disrupting our sleep with insomnia or needing too much sleep.
Although the amount of social interaction needed varies from person to person, it’s important to recognise when we’re feeling lonely so we can take steps to connect with others and prevent it from developing into chronic loneliness.
Try to keep in touch with the people in your life or think about ways to reconnect with old friends and acquaintances. Making the first move may be daunting, but taking active steps to reacquaint with friends can bring so much joy and boost your self-confidence.
You may feel too embarrassed to tell somebody you’re feeling lonely, but it’s important to remember you’re not the only person to feel this way and bottling up your feelings won’t make you feel any better. Although it may be difficult to talk about your situation, there’s no shame in feeling lonely.
Finding the courage to open up to others and explore the different ways to build up your social networks can really help in so many ways and prevent loneliness from becoming a serious issue.”
