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Politics & social justice
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Talking to help young people tackle loneliness crisis

A campaign aims to highlight the importance of talking to deal with loneliness, an issue that impacts over 1.9 million people in the UK.

Young people always keep their loneliness in mind which can really impact their mental health and well being.

Talking is the best way to tackle the looming crisis of loneliness in the UK, according to a charity campaign that is running this week. 

The ‘Lonely Not Alone’ campaign is a youth-led project that aims to get people to open up about loneliness. The number of chronically lonely young people who are often or always lonely has increased by 400,000 over the past year to 1.9 million, according to the latest data analysed by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Young people can share their emotions to profession to deal with their loneliness.

“I truly believe that speaking to somebody especially professional about what was going on with me has help me get to a much better place,” said the campaign manager Sophie Beresford, “Because I understand where my anxiety and depression was coming from. And I was then able to take step to improve it.”

Eighty-five percent of chronically lonely young people say that loneliness has had a negative impact on their mental health, and 70 percent say that loneliness has caused them to perform poorly at school or work.

“I am an extremely high masking ADHD girl, with a ton of trauma, anxiety, depression etc. I have always felt like I didn’t fit in, and that is such a lonely way to feel. I’ve had/have friends, but they’ll never really know me, sometimes because I don’t even know myself. because I’ve been trying to fit in with everyone else for so long,” said by a girl who join the “Lonely Not Alone” campaign.

Studies reveal that people between the ages of 16 to 25 experience stigma and loneliness at higher rates. 

This age group often faces societal pressure to conform to certain expectations and may struggle with finding their identity. Additionally, the transition from adolescence to adulthood can be overwhelming, leading to feelings of isolation and a sense of not belonging.

Talking to others is a good way to express their own negative emotion.

This is a safe place for young people to share stories and join their constellation, and for people who may not be lonely themselves to send a message of support. Here is the website of ‘Lonely Not Alone’: https://lonelynotalone.org.