Quarter of UK adults say lockdown has made them 'feel lonely'

Young people aged 18 to 24 found to be the most affected

A UK charity has shared concerns over the long-term impact of the coronavirus pandemic on mental health after a quarter of adults admitted to experiencing loneliness during lockdown.

The Mental Health Foundation – a charity, whose mission is “to help people to thrive through understanding, protecting, and sustaining their mental health” – conducted a survey of 2,221 UK adults to find out more about how the outbreak is affecting people’s wellbeing.

Almost a quarter of adults living under the coronavirus lockdown in the UK said they felt lonely, with the most affected group found to be young people aged 18 to 24 – 44 per cent of which admitted to experiencing loneliness.

The next most affected group were adults aged 25 to 34, with 35 per cent saying they had felt lonely as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, followed by one in six older people aged over 55.

The study was carried out as part of a major UK-wide longitudinal research project called Coronavirus: Mental Health and the Pandemic.

The survey was conducted over two days at the beginning of April and asked people whether they had felt loneliness in the previous two weeks.

The UK-wide project is being led by the charity in partnership with the University of Cambridge, Swansea University, University of Strathclyde and Queen's University Belfast.

Dr Antonis Kousoulis, director at the Mental Health Foundation, said the data shows that millions of people in the UK are experiencing feelings of loneliness, which is a key risk factor for developing or worsening mental health problems.

“The concern is that the longer the pandemic goes on, the more feelings become long-term. The impact of long-term loneliness on mental health can be very hard to manage,” Dr Kousoulis said.

“While the initial priority must be to prevent loss of life, we fear that we may be living with the mental health impacts of the coronavirus situation for many years to come.

“This is especially true of vulnerable groups and it is critical that governments and others are mindful of this in developing policy as we go forward.”

The research also revealed a major surge in feelings of loneliness, which more than doubled across the lockdown period.

When the researchers carried out the first round of the survey in March, shortly before the lockdown started, 10 per cent of UK adults said they had felt lonely. This had risen to 24 per cent by the beginning of April.

Professor Tine Van Bortel, senior research associate in public health at the University of Cambridge, added: “It might feel surprising, but what our research shows is that the group most likely to be experiencing these feelings are young people.

”It is worrying that close to half of them said they are concerned about feeling lonely, and special attention should be given to young people.

“However, we shouldn't forget that loneliness is also clearly affecting very large numbers of people of all ages.”

If you have been affected by this article, you can contact the following organisations for support: mind.org.uk, beateatingdisorders.org.uk, nhs.uk/livewell/mentalhealth, mentalhealth.org.uk, samaritans.org.