Impact of loneliness on young people's mental health

The Mental Health Foundation has announced the dates and theme of this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week, which runs from Monday 9 May until Sunday 15 May 2022. The week will explore the experience of loneliness, its effect on our mental health and how we can all play a part in reducing loneliness in our communities or schools.

Loneliness affects millions of children and young people in the UK every year and is a key driver of poor mental health. This is especially important to address for young people who have become more isolated since the pandemic and lockdowns, losing important opportunities during adolescence to build relationships and friendships with peers. Resulting in significant isolation and a deterioration in face-to-face communication skills for many young people.

Loneliness and Young People's Mental Health

Loneliness is a feeling we all experience at some point in our lives. For young people, who are still developing social skills and dealing with the challenges of adolescence, loneliness can be especially tough to handle. Unfortunately, loneliness can also have a negative impact on mental health.

Symptoms of depression, anxiety, and other mental health disorders can be exacerbated by loneliness. And conversely, lonely individuals are more likely to develop mental health problems. This is why it's so important for teachers, mental health leads, and head teachers to be aware of the signs of loneliness in young people and to provide support when necessary.

Here are some of the ways that loneliness can impact mental health:

1. Loneliness increases stress levels. When we feel lonely, our bodies go into "fight or flight" mode, releasing stress hormones like cortisol. This leads to a host of physical symptoms like headaches and stomachaches, as well as emotional symptoms like anxiety and irritability.

2. Loneliness leads to social withdrawal. Feeling isolated and alone can cause people to withdraw from social activities and isolate themselves even further. As social creatures, humans need regular contact with others in order to thrive. But when we're feeling lonely, we're less likely to seek out those interactions.

3. Loneliness decreases self-esteem. When we feel cut off from the world around us, it's easy to start thinking that there must be something wrong with us. This can lead to feelings of worthlessness and invisibility, which only reinforce the cycle of loneliness.

‍4. Loneliness disrupts sleep patterns. It's hard to get a good night's sleep when you're feeling lonely; you may have trouble falling asleep in the first place, or you may wake up in the middle of the night and find it difficult to go back to sleep. This can lead to fatigue, which makes it even harder to cope with life's challenges.

5. Loneliness contributes to poor eating habits. When we're feeling down, it's common to reach for unhealthy comfort foods or forego meals altogether. This can lead to weight gain or weight loss, as well as poor body image and low self-esteem.

6. Loneliness negatively impacts physical health. In addition to its effects on nutrition, loneliness has also been linked with high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, and weakened immunity.

7. Loneliness increases the risk of suicide. Feeling isolated and alone can make life seem not worth living anymore; according to one study, 40% of suicides were preceded by feelings of loneliness.

Loneliness is something that everyone experiences at one time or another but for young people, who are still developing social skills and dealing with the challenges of adolescence, it can be especially tough to handle.

It's important for teachers, mental health leads and head teachers to be aware of the signs of loneliness in young people so they offer support when necessary because left unchecked loneliness can have a negative impact on mental health in a number of ways.

Loneliness and Young People How to Help

In 2015 ACEVO (The UK's largest Network for Charity and Social Enterprise Leaders) launched 'Coming in from the Cold' – a report on loneliness among young people in London. We are delighted that Worth-it is featured as a case study in this report. Although this work took place a few years ago it has significant relevance today.

Feeling lonely and isolated with a no one to talk to, not feeling heard or listened to has a significant negative impact on young people's levels of wellbeing and can lead to the development of longer-term mental health problems.

There has been little in-depth research into the experience of loneliness and how it impacts young people.

The loneliness young people experience that was highlighted in the 2015 report was a ground-breaking attempt to begin this process. It uses London as a test case and focuses on those aged 16 to 32 years, examining the causes of loneliness among young people and proposing solutions to the related problems. Our work was presented as a proactive case study of positive education approaches that help prevent loneliness for younger teenagers, which could prevent the onset of these problems for older young people

Estimates show that the health, crime and unemployment costs, which in part can be associated with loneliness, amount to £34.5 billion. The damage done by loneliness to young people themselves can range from poor physical and mental health, suppression of future job/earning opportunities or a drift into criminal activity.

Main Findings of the ‘Coming in from the Cold’ Report (2015)

Some of the main findings to come from the report are detailed here:

• 48% of 18-24 year olds say that they often feel lonely
• Young Londoners are roughly twice as likely to be lonely as the national average
• Women and ethnic minorities are significantly over-represented among lonely young Londoners
• Those going through a ‘life transition’ - leaving home, entering the world of work or falling in to the category known as ‘NEET’,  starting or leaving university, the failure of a major relationship or becoming a parent are more likely to experience loneliness
• 53% of young people have felt depressed because they felt alone

I don't get as angry as much any more, I talk to people more which has helped me with my friends and not feeling on my own.

Michael Worth-it Programme Participant aged 14

Recommendations of the Report

• Increased monitoring of loneliness through the Office for National Statistics
• Loneliness incorporated in local authorities strategies for engagement with young people
• The adoption of the Scottish Government’s ‘Getting it Right for Every Child and Young Person’ (GIRFEC) outcomes framework
• A Deputy Mayor for Young People to ensure strategic oversight of youth service provision and to promote the interests of this often overlooked demographic
• A Mayor’s Fund for Young People’s Resilience and Inclusion worth £3.2 million to help ensure that young people have built the necessary strong social connections

Worth-it's Approach to Preventing Loneliness in Young People

We work with schools, organisations, and communities to help people learn, develop, and use skills that improve mental wellbeing.

Among the many services offered by us we have also developed an innovative, evidence-based positive education programmme for young people to help them develop essential skills to improve communication skills and strategies for wellbeing, which help address loneliness.

Our Wellbeing Ambassadors programme is a targeted intervention that has been co-produced with young people and is underpinned by positive coaching psychology. It helps develop communication and interpersonal skills for a group of young people who can then support peers in schools or settings feel that they belong and have someone to talk to. As part of this programme young people learn effective skills that improve interpersonal skills and strategies to develop positive peer relationships that are essential for young people to feel belonging and connection.

Our goal is to lead a sustainable systemic change to a more proactive, preventative approach to improving young people’s mental health and wellbeing. You can access our training enabling you to run our Wellbeing Ambassadors Programme and support the young people you work with prevent loneliness. Find out more about the impact of our Wellbeing Ambassadors Programme by downloading our FREE impact report.