Mental health concerns as survey reveals rise in loneliness

The issue is most acute among young people aged 18 to 24, with 44 per cent saying they felt lonely.

National charity the Mental Health Foundation found the next most affected group were adults aged 25 to 34, with 35 per cent saying they had felt loneliness as a result of the pandemic, while one in six older people aged over 55 said they had felt lonely as a result of coronavirus.

The Yorkshire Post has been campaigning to raise awareness of loneliness, which can be as damaging to health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, since 2014

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 in partnership with the universities of Cambridge, Swansea, Strathclyde and Queen’s University Belfast.

Dr Antonis Kousoulis, director at the Mental Health Foundation, said: “Our data reveal 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.

"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 revealed feelings of loneliness had more than doubled across the lockdown period. Shortly before the lockdown started, 10 per cent of UK adults said they had felt lonely, which rose to 24 per cent by the beginning of April.