This week (9-15 May) is mental health awareness week, this years theme being loneliness. Social media users have been using the hashtags #mentalhealthawarenessweek and #ivebeenthere to share photos of times when they have felt lonely and no one knew.
Across the Cove Healthcare social media channels, we have also been sharing tips for young people on how to tackle feelings of loneliness. These tips will also be listed below.
Set time aside for social interactions
As a young person, you often have a lot on your plate to have to juggle. There is the workload of school/ college/ university, a part-time job, family commitments and so on. When workload increases, we sometimes neglect looking after ourselves and forgetting how important social interactions are.
Reach out to a friend or family member and ask if they would like to get out of the house and spend an hour or two together.
Try to understand your feelings
Taking some time to think about how you are feeling can be very beneficial. It can help you to understand why you are feeling this way, and what is contributing to these feelings.
Keeping a diary can be helpful to learn what works for us and how we can protect our mental health.
Grab a pen and paper and note down how you are feeling. This could be in the form of bullet points, drawings or a mind map- whatever works best for you.
Find like-minded people
Loneliness can come from feeling as though you don’t fit in, or that you are different to others. Surrounding yourself with people who have similar interests to you, have a similar sense of humour and who understand you can help us feel more connected. We feel our happiest when we are able to be ourselves and be understood by others.
Do some research into any clubs and societies in your area that you could join, or alternatively, any online communities you could join- Facebook groups are a great example.
Take control of your social feeds
Social media can be a great tool for keeping in touch with friends near or far. However, remember that people tend to only post the positive aspects of their lives. Seeing your friends post about all of the fun things they’re doing with al of their friends can lead to the fear of missing out. Sometimes, you may feel the need to take a break from it.
Have a look through the people you’re following. If you see any accounts on there who you believe may bring up difficult feelings, try putting them on mute for a while- the person won’t see this and you don’t have to unfollow them. Have a look into some accounts that make you feel inspired.
Organise time to spend with people you love
An amazing way to prevent feelings of loneliness is to surround yourself with good quality, strong and supportive relationships. Aim to nurture these relationships where possible, be supportive and trustworthy and form bonds with others who will do the same for you.
Organise something fun to do at the weekend, whether this be with friends or family members. It may seem scary to be the first person to reach out, but consider how positively you would react if someone was reaching out to you, and understand that they will likely feel the same way.
The Mental Health Foundation have some brilliant resources on how to further reduce feelings of loneliness. Linked here is where you can find help if you need it urgently- https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/your-mental-health/getting-help
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