Wellbeing impact of loneliness highlights importance of reaching out to others - The Yorkshire Post says

The report, based on an Opinions and Lifestyle Survey carried out between April 3 and May 3, found the equivalent of 7.4 million people said their wellbeing was affected through feeling lonely in the first month of lockdown.

Those experiencing both chronic loneliness and lockdown loneliness were more likely to report feeling stressed or anxious, a strain on personal relationships, feeling like they had no one to talk to about their problems and an impact on their mental health.

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

This latest data is yet further evidence of how important it is to reach out and support those who, for whatever reason, feel cut off from their family and community, to ensure they are not forgotten and left struggling alone - and that is perhaps never more vital than now, in an unprecedented period, which has left us all distanced from others outside our households.

With many people experiencing loneliness during the coronavirus pandemic, Minister for Loneliness Baroness Diana Barran told this newspaper in April that convincing people of the scale of the issue had become “less of a battle”.

Yet, recognition is only part of the puzzle. What is needed, as the Baroness rightly set out, is a greater understanding of what is working to help address loneliness. Only then can its impact, including on wellbeing, truly be mitigated.

Editor’s note: first and foremost - and rarely have I written down these words with more sincerity - I hope this finds you well.

Almost certainly you are here because you value the quality and the integrity of the journalism produced by The Yorkshire Post’s journalists - almost all of which live alongside you in Yorkshire, spending the wages they earn with Yorkshire businesses - who last year took this title to the industry watchdog’s Most Trusted Newspaper in Britain accolade.

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Sincerely. Thank you.

James Mitchinson

Editor