Please see below for a post from Laura Cassels, our very own Welfare Officer, about Mental Health Awareness Week. We have more information on the Welfare and Wellbeing tab here.
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Mental Health Awareness week is 09 May to 15 May 2022.
This year’s theme is loneliness. This seems particularly important given that many of us were isolated from loved ones unexpectedly when Covid hit. In fact, the Mental Health Foundation reported that during the successive lockdowns, loneliness was almost three times as high compared to pre-Covid levels.
As Covid restrictions have lifted, many people have begun returning to workplaces, meeting with friends/family and engaging in more of our ‘old normal’ activities.
But that doesn’t mean that the issue of loneliness has gone.
This is because loneliness is not just the result of being alone. You may live alone and be perfectly happy without contact from other people, or you may be surrounded by people but still feel lonely.
Loneliness is the feeling of a lack of connection, whether that be to friends and family, to the community, to the world, or even to yourself.
Feeling lonely isn’t, in itself, a mental illness. But loneliness can have a negative impact on your mental health. According to Mind, loneliness is associated with an increased risk of certain mental health problems, including depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, sleep problems and increased stress.
So, I’ve included below a list of tips on how to manage loneliness taken from the Mind website.
This week, try to make time to implement one of these activities into your daily life. Or, if you’re lucky enough to not suffer from loneliness, please remember to check in on people from time to time. You may be making a bigger difference to their day than you realise.
Tips on how to manage loneliness
Take it slow
If you’ve felt lonely for a long time, even if you already know lots of people, it can be terrifying to think about trying to meet new people or opening up to people for the first time. But you don’t need to rush into anything.
For example, you could try doing an online activity where other people attend but you’re not expected to interact with them, such as a drawing lesson. Or if you’re interested in joining a new group or class, you could ask whoever runs the sessions if you can just watch at first, rather than taking part.
Simply knowing that other people are there may be enough to help with some feelings of loneliness.
Try peer support
Join an online community like Side by Side. These communities can provide a place to listen and share with others who have similar experiences. They are available 24/7, most are free and you can access them wherever you are.
Make new connections
If you are feeling lonely because of a lack of satisfying social contact in your life, you could try to meet more, or different people.
Try to join a class or group based on your hobbies or interests. This could include online groups if you can’t attend things in person.
If you are able to, volunteering is a good way of meeting people. Helping others can also really help improve your mental health. It is also a good idea to check that you will receive adequate support from the organisation you are volunteering at.
Try to open up
You might feel that you know plenty of people, but what is actually wrong is that you don’t feel close to them, or they don’t give you the care and attention you need.
In this situation it might help to open up about how you feel to friends and family.
If you don’t feel comfortable opening up to the people you know, you could try speaking with a therapist or a using a peer support service.
Talking therapies
Talking therapies allow you to explore and understand your feelings of loneliness and can help you develop positive ways of dealing with them. For example, therapy can provide a space for you to discuss the emotional problems that make it hard for you to form satisfying relationships.
If anxiety about social situations has made you feel isolated, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) may help. This focuses on how your thoughts, beliefs and attitudes affect your feelings and behaviour, and teaches you coping skills for dealing with different problems.
If you are looking for advice on talking therapies, please visit the Mind website for more information.
Be careful when comparing yourself to others
It is very hard to stop comparing ourselves to others. We all do it, but it can help to just be aware that things are not always what they seem from the outside.
For example on social media, we very often only see what other people want to share about their lives, and this can make us feel like we are the only ones feeling lonely.
It’s important to remind yourself that you don’t know how other people feel when they are alone, or when their social media feeds are turned off.
If you’re worried that social media might be affecting your mental health, see the Mind information on online mental health here.
And if you have a lack of confidence in yourself or your life when compared to others, and you think that this might be contributing to your feelings of loneliness, Mind’s information on self esteem may help.
Learn about your triggers
If you want to learn more about the triggers for loneliness, or learn more about which groups are more susceptible to loneliness, you can find more information here.
If you’re feeling lonely, please remember that you can always reach out to a trained mental health first aider for a confidential chat by emailing informalswelfare@gmail.com.
You can also contact one of the helplines listed on the Yellow Sheet blog here.
Stay safe,
Laura Cassels –Welfare Officer
The Yellow Sheet 
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