What is Loneliness Awareness Week?
Hosted by Marmalade Trust, this year’s Loneliness Awareness Week (LAW) campaign takes place from 15th-19th June 2020. Marmalade Trust is a charity that raises awareness of loneliness and helps people to make new connections. LAW started 4 years ago to raise awareness of feeling lonely and encourage people to speak about it openly. It’s a powerful message that resonates with many and each year LAW receives more and more attention.
What is loneliness?
If we don’t feel connected with those around us, we can start to feel lonely which can have serious impacts on our mental health and wellbeing over a long period of time. While loneliness isn’t a mental health problem, it can have a negative impact on your mental health and likewise, having a mental health problem can increase your chance of feeling lonely.
Loneliness is a ‘need’ for social contact and it may be felt more over a long period of time. It is also possible to feel lonely, even when surrounded by people. Feelings of loneliness are unique to each of us and are linked to the gap between our desired levels of social contact and the actual level of social contact that we feel we have. Feelings of loneliness are personal, so everyone’s experience will be different.
Tackling loneliness and connecting with others
The Marmalade Trust who co-ordinates LAW, has created a list of actions you can safely take part in during the ongoing coronavirus situation:
- Send a letter or postcard to someone isolating by themselves
- Organise a weekly video call with friends or family
- Arrange a video call with someone you haven’t seen in a while
- Talk with friends or family about their experiences of feeling lonely during lockdown
- Start or join a virtual book or film club
Click here for the full list of suggested actions and more information on loneliness from The Marmalade Trust.
Building small actions into your daily life can make you feel good, and feeling good is an important part of being healthy. There are 5 ways to wellbeing that are proven to make a real difference to you. Click here to find out more about the 5 Ways to Wellbeing. Connecting is one of the 5 Ways to Wellbeing so getting in touch with the people around you: with family, friends, colleagues and neighbours, at home, work, and school or in your local community can help you to feel good. Think of these as the cornerstones of your life and invest time in developing them. Building these connections can support and enrich you every day.
Feeling lonely is a natural reaction to the current coronavirus pandemic, and it’s important that you don’t blame yourself for feelings of loneliness, at this or any other time. Click here, or check out the video below, for advice on how to help others or yourself if you are feeling lonely from Let’s Talk Loneliness.
For more information from Mind on loneliness and tips on managing loneliness, click here.
