15 impacts of loneliness. Loneliness Awareness Week

As I mentioned earlier in this Loneliness Awareness Week, we can all feel lonely or isolated sometimes and usually this resolves over time as situations change for us.

Prolonged and/or intense experiences of loneliness can have huge impacts on our wellbeing, and on the health of our communities.

The World Health Organisation is so concerned about the effects of loneliness, it has set up a Commission on Social Connection which aims to see the issue recognised and resourced as a global public health priority: WHO Commission on Social Connection .

Here are 15 statistics on the impact of prolonged loneliness (mainly from the Campaign to End Loneliness Facts and Statistics | Campaign to End Loneliness):

1.        Loneliness increases risk of early death by about 25%. This is about the same as the health impact of smoking 15 cigarettes a day, or of being obese.

2.        Loneliness is associated with approximately a 30% increase in cardiovascular disease.

3.        Loneliness is associated with poor sleep quality, physical inactivity, reduced immunity and a higher risk of cancer.

4.        Loneliness puts people at greater risk of cognitive decline and dementia.

5.        Social isolation and loneliness are associated with the progression of frailty.

6.        Lower social connectedness is associated with increased levels of chronic pain.

7.        Loneliness is linked to poorer mental health and poor mental health can also lead to loneliness. The relationship goes in both directions.

8.        Loneliness is associated with lower educational attainment.

9.        Loneliness and low social interaction are predictive of suicide in older age.

10.   People who are lonely tend to ‘perceive regular events as stressful’.

11.   Having meaningful relationships and feeling accepted is crucial to mental health recovery (Lee et al., 2024; Ikhtabi et al., 2022)..

12.   People who are lonely tend to have more general practice contacts, emergency treatments, and hospital admissions.

13.   There is an association between loneliness and higher mental healthcare expenditure.

14.   Higher loneliness levels among employees is associated with poorer work performance. and productivity.

15.   It has been estimated that loneliness costs the UK £2.5 billion a year.

To conclude, loneliness is a hidden, often invisible force affecting ourselves and our communities in multiple and profound ways.

BUT we increasingly know what can help to change loneliness and t

hat will be the topic of my next post...