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Loneliness Awareness Week is an annual campaign hosted by the Marmalade Trust that raises awareness of loneliness across the UK and encourages people to talk about it. The campaign aims to reduce the stigma of loneliness and encourage people to connect with others.

Loneliness was one of the main motivations behind the development of the Kindspace voice application. Back in 2020, when we couldn’t visit our customers houses, we wanted to do something to help people through the isolation.

In this blog post, we’ll look at the scale of the issue that loneliness presents and some of the data around the linkage between mental health and loneliness.

What is Loneliness?

The Campaign to End Loneliness uses a definition of loneliness from a paper published in the London Academic Press in 1981, by Perlman D. and Peplau L. A. titled “Toward a Social Psychology of Loneliness”.

In the paper they explain that loneliness is:

“a subjective, unwelcome feeling of lack or loss of companionship. It happens when we have a mismatch between the quantity and quality of social relationships that we have, and those that we want”.

Importantly, loneliness is very different from social isolation, although they often occur together. You can feel lonely while surrounded by people and feel a sense of mental isolation rather than physical isolation. A lack of connection with and emotional support from those around you can lead to feelings of loneliness.

The US Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy, has declared a loneliness epidemic. I was lucky enough to hear him speak at the Campaign to End Loneliness conference earlier this year and his words really struck me. I hunted down my note book to find what I wrote:

• Loneliness is a warning signal a bit like thirst or hunger that tells us we are lacking social connection. A bit like food and water, we need this to survive.
• We’re in a social recession and we need to start a social revival movement. It is important for our future and the world our children will inherit.
• We need to invest in social infrastructure to reverse this trend.

How Prevalent is Loneliness in the UK and who does it affect most?

According to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), around 1 in 4 (25%) of adults in the UK reported feeling lonely “always”, “often” or “some of the time” between March 2020 and May 2023.

Overall, in this time period loneliness has increased by 1.8%, with the upward trend most pronounced in the 30 to 49 age range.

The data also shows that young adults are more likely to report feeling lonely than older age groups, with almost twice as many young people aged between 16 to 29 reporting loneliness than people in the age range 70 and over.

This data shows that loneliness is a significant issue in the UK, affecting people of all ages. Some groups are more affected than others. Research commissioned by the government shows that:

• People with a disability or long-term health condition were 2.9 times more likely to experience significant feelings of loneliness and physical isolation.
• Those in the LGBTQ community are also disproportionately affected, with people who identify as gay or lesbian 1.4 times more likely to be lonely, and people who identify as bisexual 2.5 times more likely to be lonely.
• People living in remote areas with poor transport links, reduced local activity choices and limited digital connectivity.
• People with a lower income are likely to experience more feelings of loneliness, with those in the lowest income quintile were 50 per cent more likely to experience chronic loneliness when compared with the wealthiest quintile.

Undoubtedly the cost of living crisis will be having an impact on people’s wellbeing and feelings of loneliness if they cannot afford to travel to see friends or participate in activities in their communities due to the costs.

How does Loneliness Change Across the Life Course?

Feelings of loneliness will naturally change throughout a person’s life. The likelihood of experiencing loneliness can increase at key transitional points or events.

Childhood: Adverse events in childhood or adolescence such as abuse, neglect, losing a parent or having parents affected by mental health or substance misuse issues can influence mental health in later life. However, there is a gap in studies looking at people in mid-life 25-60 to understand how prior early life experiences might impact later loneliness.

Early Adulthood: Transitioning to living independently is one of the most significant changes we will experience in our lives. Leaving the family home and potentially also the place you grew up in order to find work or continue education can be stressful. Many young people struggle with all the things that come with being more independent, creating a routine, managing work/studying, looking after a home, managing finances, seeing family less often as well as finding a new social circle.

Starting a Family: Parenting is hard. Lack of sleep, worrying about whether you are doing things right and falling into the trap of unrealistic expectations or comparing yourself with other parents can have a significant impact on your mental health. Learning how to get out and about with a baby is like a military operation, factoring in nap times and the huge amount of stuff (nappies, food, cleaning cloths, spare clothes, toys, blankets) that they need. It is natural for parents to worry and this can make them less confident in going out and socialising. Fertility issues and/or pregnancy loss is another area that can feel particularly isolating, especially if people in your social circle have babies. There is a huge societal expectation that people should have children and the fact that biologically it is more challenging to become a parent at an older age.

The Sandwich Generation: In middle age, it’s becoming increasingly common for people to take on a dual caring role. We’re starting a family later in life, and our parents are ageing. Families are typically becoming more complex in their structure and often are not geographically near to each other in order to facilitate support. Caring responsibilities are mostly down to women. This can lead to women not prioritising their own needs and wellbeing, leading to poor mental health and increased isolation due to having a lack of time for themselves.

Retirement: Leaving the workplace is a significant change to adapt to, especially if it is a career that you have been in for a while or if you feel your work forms a part of your identity. A decline in physical health, such as chronic pain or mobility issues can affect our ability to participate in social activities. While we are living longer, we’re also living with more complex conditions. Bereavement is more frequent as people aged, and this can trigger feelings of loneliness, particularly after the loss of a partner or close friend or family member.

Is there a social stigma associated with loneliness?

The government’s tackling loneliness evidence review has looked into the link between social stigma and loneliness.

Interestingly, the research interviewers did not use the word ‘loneliness’ unless it was used by a participant first. Instead, participants were asked about their feelings of connection to others. This is very similar to how we look at loneliness in the Kindspace daily check-in, where we made a conscious decision to frame the check-in questions in a way that were more sensitive to the person on the other side and also allowed for greater context around where feelings of loneliness stem from in a person’s life.

In the review, it was found that those reporting loneliness are often perceived as socially inept, poorly adjusted, and generally incompetent, and research participants said they would be more unwilling to befriend someone described as lonely. People feel shame about feeling lonely, with young men reporting higher feelings of shame around loneliness than older people or women.

Given the linkage between loneliness and mental health issues, this is not surprising. A lot has been done to reduce the stigma around mental health and a similar approach to loneliness would also be beneficial.

What are the impacts of loneliness?

Mental and Physical Health

Research by John T Cacioppo and Louise C Hawkley highlights the significant relationship between loneliness, mental health and cognitive decline.

Lonely people have an increased social threat sensitivity and higher perceived stress which activates the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis (HPA-axis). People experiencing chronic loneliness are nearly four times more likely than people without chronic loneliness to be in mental distress.

Mental health conditions can cause low mood, negative perceptions, and low energy levels leading to social withdrawal and disconnection from others. If you are affected by a mental health issue, this can result in low self-esteem and make you less likely to want to interact with other people.

Loneliness is also connected with poorer overall health. Isolation can result due to an illness, with feelings of loneliness then exacerbating the condition and further impacting quality of life.

Economic Impact of Loneliness

In a study undertaken by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport in 2020 it was estimated that loneliness costs approximately £9,900 per person each year.

For people in work, feeling lonely can result in lower-quality work, lower productivity and absence due to sickness. For employers, this can also results in costs due to medical bills and higher staff turnover.

So are we in a loneliness epidemic?

In conclusion, from the data it is difficult to determine whether we are in a “loneliness epidemic”. However, it is clear that loneliness is a significant issue in the UK and is on an upward trend. While it is good that there is a focus on loneliness for older people, the stereotype of it being something that only older people experience means that we’re potentially not addressing of those in earlier life stages. The data clearly shows a worrying upward trend in feelings of loneliness in people aged 30 to 49 years of age.

The Marmalade Trust’s Loneliness Awareness Week is an important initiative that helps to raise awareness of loneliness and encourages people to connect with others.

If you are feeling lonely, there are many resources available to help, including our voice applications Kindspace and if you’re in Scotland, our My Scottish Community app that helps you to find support in your local community. The Marmalade Trust provides a range of resources and support for people experiencing loneliness, including a loneliness helpline. Age UK also provides support for older people experiencing loneliness.