This year’s focus for Mental Health Awareness Week is loneliness, a growing issue in the UK and which has had a huge impact on physical and mental health especially during the pandemic.
How we connect with other people and the community is fundamental to protecting our mental health and we need to find better ways of tackling the epidemic of loneliness.
As part of Mental Health Awareness Week, Stacey Cox, director of employment and HR services at Wake Smith Solicitors, looks at loneliness and some practical steps from the NHS to help address it.
What causes loneliness?
Loneliness happens when our need for rewarding social contact and relationships is not met. It is personal and everyone's experience will be different. It is not always the same as just being alone.
Loneliness has many different causes, often not always completely understood.
Certain life events may lead to loneliness including:
- Not seeing friends, family and colleagues in person
- A bereavement
- A relationship break-up
- Retiring and losing the social contact from work
- Changing jobs and feeling isolated from colleagues
- Starting at university
- Being elderly
- Moving to a new area or country without family, friends or community networks
- Annual events like birthdays, Christmas and Easter.
Who might be prone to loneliness?
According to research some groups are more prone to loneliness as they may find it hard to maintain a social life, relationships or suffer discrimination or stigma due to their health conditions or status.
They are:
- Those with no friends or family
- Those who cannot meet friends and family
- Those estranged from their family
- Single parents and lone carers
- Minority groups living in areas without others from a similar background
- Those excluded from social activities due to lockdown, mobility problems or budget
- The disabled or those suffering from long-term health problem, including mental health problems
- Those experiencing discrimination via gender, race or sexual orientation
- Those experiencing sexual or physical abuse
How can you help yourself past loneliness and isolation?
Make a plan. Decide how you’re going to combat loneliness by staying physically and socially active, and building a support network around you as best as you can. Use a phone or video call to make contact first.
There are others like you. You are not the only person feeling cut-off or lonely. Look for other people in a similar position on well established and reputable online forums and support groups.
Go slow with socialising. Take your time, eventually you will feel like a real part of the group.
Be kind. When you do get the chance to socialise, be kind, open, honest and try not to be too negative.
What are simple strategies to look for with an employee or colleague suffering from loneliness or mental health problems?
- Awareness - Recognising the signs that someone may have a mood or mental disorder is the first step toward getting treatment and living a better life.
- Listen - simply listen to a person’s problems. Being able to talk things through can be therapeutic in itself.
- Act - practical things such as ensuring the person is eating well and limiting unhelpful habits such as alcohol can make a difference.
- Information - Improve your own understanding of depression by accessing information online.
- Help – encourage them to visit their GP for an open and honest discussion.
For further help on employment policies surrounding mental health issues and training for senior leader in how to manage mental health in the workplace, contact Stacey Cox at Wake Smith Solicitors on 0114 224 2087.
