Loneliness and Isolation

24 December 2025

Feeling lonely and isolated can have a negative impact on your emotional wellbeing and lead to an increase in anxiety, or even depression. You don’t have to be alone to feel lonely. You can have the feeling of loneliness even when you are surrounded by people that you know and trust. There may be times in your life when you experience episodes of loneliness. Some common reasons for this are listed below, but there can be many other reasons for feeling lonely that are not listed here:

Starting a new school, college, or university
When friendships change
If you have experienced a bereavement
If you are struggling with your sexuality or gender identity

It’s important to remember that loneliness is not the same as social isolation. People can be isolated (alone) yet not feel lonely. People can be surrounded by other people, yet still, feel lonely.  One common description of loneliness is the feeling we get when our need for rewarding social contact and relationships is not met, but loneliness is not always the same as being alone. When people feel socially isolated, this can be overcome relatively quickly by increasing the number of people they are in contact with.

However, you don’t have to be alone. The resources below are full of support and guidance to support you to feel better.