There has been a great increase in the attention which has been paid to loneliness in the last few years. Lots of research and charities has been formed around studying this social phenomenon as it badly impacts people’s health and wellbeing. Lots of different factors seem to be involved in creating social isolation in the United Kingdom as the means for people being able to socialise and create social connections are becoming sparse. The social and economic landscape of the UK has suffered from various kinds of fragmentation and this is now being seen in increases in the mental health issues, drug and alcohol addiction, a spike and rise in deaths due to overdose. If we look at the rises in these problems their increase seems to be connected with the austerity policies, the rise in the costs of living, and the diminishment of social spaces available to people. For more information and a podcast of the presentation visit: https://www.raggeduniversity.co.uk/2018/12/05/16th-dec-2018-loneliness-and-social-isolation-by-alex-dunedin/

1. Loneliness and Social Isolation

2. The Difference Between Aloneness and
Loneliness

It is natural to want our own space

It is natural to feel lonely at times

The tendency to pathologise some experiences

Identifying if there is a problem

Being comfortable with our own aloneness

Being comfortable with other people's aloneness

3. The Rise in Loneliness in the UK

In 2016 to 2017, there were 5% of adults in England who reported feeling lonely
“often” or “always”

Younger adults aged 16 to 24 years reported feeling lonely more often than those in
older age groups.

Women reported feeling lonely more often than men.

Those single or widowed were at particular risk of experiencing loneliness more often.

People in poor health or who have conditions they describe as “limiting” were also at
particular risk of feeling lonely more often.

Renters reported feeling lonely more often than homeowners.

People who feel that they belong less strongly to their neighbourhood reported feeling
lonely more often.

People who have little trust of others in their local area reported feeling lonely more
often.
Office For National Statistics

4. The Effects of Loneliness on People’s Health
and Wellbeing
It is the time factor that decides how harmful loneliness may be. Loneliness
becomes an issue of serious concern only when it settles in long enough to
create a persistent, self-reinforcing loop of negative thoughts, sensations
and behaviours’
(Cacioppo, J. T. and Patrick, W. (2008) Loneliness: Human Nature and the
Need for Social Connection New York: W. W. Norton and Company, p.7)
Loneliness causes physiological events that damage our physical health.
Persistent loneliness impacts via stress hormones on immune function and
cardiovascular function with a cumulative effect that means being lonely or
not is equivalent in impact to being a smoker or non-smoker.
(Cacioppo, J. T. and Hawkley, L. C. (August 2007) Aging and Loneliness: Downhill Quickly?
Current Directions in Psychological Science
http://psychology.uchicago.edu/people/faculty/cacioppo/CHASRS.shtml)

5. How Loneliness Can Affect Our Behaviour
It can play a role in mental disorders such as anxiety and paranoia.
The French sociologist Emile Durkheim documented how Loneliness can act as
a factor in suicide.
People who are chronically lonely can get stuck in a loop of negative behaviour,
and might push others away or seek transient contact, such as multiple
sexual partners, which can make them even more isolated.
Loneliness alters our behaviour, increasing our chances of indulging in risky
habits such as drug-taking.
Just joining a dating website or a new club to find friends does not necessarily
help someone who is chronically lonely.

6. My Personal Experience of Loneliness at
Points in My Life
School Daze: Being the outsider inside
Social Reciprocity: Not having the means to participate or reciprocate
Homelessness: Being invisible and voiceless – distinction; being alone was
what I was seeking
Fear of Flying: The panic at Toronto and no one to turn to
In the Shadow of Institutes: The faceless, nameless number of bureaucracy

7. The Importance of an Enriched Environment
for Social Mammals
Marian Cleeves Diamond pioneered work documenting how enriched
environments result in the development of healthier more complex brains.
(C. Diamond, Marian. (2001). Response of the brain to enrichment. Anais
da Academia Brasileira de Ciências. 73. 211-20)
Animal welfare as referring to “how an animal is coping with the conditions in
which it lives. An animal is in a good state of welfare if it is healthy,
comfortable, well nourished, safe, able to express innate behaviour, and if it
is not suffering from unpleasant states such as pain, fear and distress”
(World Organisation for Animal Health, 2015)
Variables that affect cortisol levels include individual temperament, social status,
reproductive condition, developmental history, age, health condition, social
environment, and social support.
(Science-based assessment of animal welfare: wild and captive animals B.
Jordan)

8. The Loss of Social Habitat in Britain
The roots of the word 'society' are found in mid 16th century (in the sense
‘companionship, friendly association with others’): from French société, from
Latin societas, from socius ‘companion’.
My thoughts on loneliness are inclined towards thinking that it is an indicator of
the loss of our social habitat
Britain has become highly financialised, denuded of natural and social spaces,
and socially stratified in response to inequalities

9. Counteracting Loneliness
A collective social response to create shared social activities
Lifelong learning as a means of enriching our environment
Spiritual and secular meditative and self reflective practices
Learning about our psychology and what improves our wellbeing
Learning to let go of anxieties and try new things
Caring about people and allowing other people to care about us