One in four Australians report feeling lonely, according to our new report released this week from our research collaboration. The data builds on a large study we conducted last year on social connection. Together, the data show that once someone becomes lonely , they’re likely to stay lonely.
Feeling lonely can have a negative impact on your health . It increases the chance of having social anxiety and depression , and impacts the health of your heart , your sleep and levels of inflammation . It also increases the likelihood of an earlier death .
Staying lonely can be accelerate these negative impacts . As more Australians grapple with a cost-of-living crisis, a key driver of loneliness is financial hardship. Am I lonely? Loneliness is a negative feeling that arises when your social needs are not met by the relationships you hold.
So you can feel alone, even if you’re surrounded by others, if you’re not getting the right kind of company and support. This might mean you feel, to a certain extent, that: you are not “in tune” with others your relationships are not meaningful you do not belong you do not have a group of friends no one understands you you do not have shared interests with others there is no one you can turn to. Not all of these may relate to you and you may experience these in varying degrees.
What drives loneliness? We found particular communities were more at risk of persistent loneliness: those aged 18 to 24 people from culturally and linguistically .