As part of mental health week which is 13-19th May 2019 I thought tackling the rarely acknowledged topic of loneliness to be useful. It can be a hidden concern affecting all ages in the workforce and impact work abilities and attendance by the effects.
Effects of loneliness
- Sleep difficulties
- Reduced immune function
- Less likely to adhere to health promoting lifestyles
- Increases the perception of stress
- Increased incidence of mental ill health such as anxiety and depression
Solutions
- Befriending groups
- Social media & technology – such as on-line support groups which can be particularly beneficial if able to take the remote connection into physical contact and networks. An example of this is “Netmums” who launched “meet a mum” and found that now 10,000 people meet each month through this service.
- Volunteering – join a local group which has similar interests or hobbies, such as https://www.parkrun.org.uk/. It is argued that altruism is an essential aspect of human nature.
- Consider how employees relate and connect with each other.
- As a business you may want to research local social activities or groups and request if you can post their contact information on to staff intranet or physical notice boards
Loneliness is non conformist to age groupings. Feeling lonely occurs at any age; adolescents, 20’s, 30’s and each decade beyond, it is not selective in who it affects.
It is a subjective experience, defined and experienced by the individual. Observation may bring query as to why or how the person can feel lonely when for example they have a family and friends. Much of the experience of being lonely is about the colour and tone of the social contact. Being valued, understood and cared for, are fundamental human psychological needs. Without this for short periods of time it is accepted and tolerated with little disruption to the equilibrium of health.
For long periods it becomes a sequence of reciprocal cause and effect with the stigma of being lonely adding extra darkness to the pattern. Ill health; physical and mental are painted into the picture both as a contributor to loneliness and consequence of. Living by oneself is not a requirement to feeling lonely. Solitude it has been argued is a positive afferent to flourishing or thriving.
Loneliness can be considered as an inevitability in some life stages. Death, the loss of a loved one is a predictor of loneliness to be experienced by the grieving partner, friend, relative. Physically moving away from secure, time created social and work relationships could be convoyed with a change to the psychological connectedness and security of reliable networks. We all have a responsibility to reach out to others as part of being human. The workplace can be a domain where loneliness is eased or exacerbated.
Anna Harrington – Clinical Lead
