WATCH: Mental Health Awareness Week 2022 on a mission to stop loneliness

This week is Mental Health Awareness Week in the UK and this year’s theme is tackling loneliness, using the hashtag #IveBeenThere.

The Mental Health Foundation UK is on a mission to let everyone know that their mental health matters.

So what is loneliness? Loneliness is the negative feeling we have when there is a mismatch between the relationships we have and the relationships we need. This means that it can be different for all of us.

This Mental Health Awareness Week we're on a mission to let everyone living in loneliness know that their mental health matters.

Let's tackle loneliness together. Say #IveBeenThere#MentalHealthAwarenessWeek pic.twitter.com/8gUN9hAdej

— Mental Health Foundation (@mentalhealth) May 9, 2022

Loneliness is deeply distressing for individuals and also has wider implications for communities and society. The health pandemic has magnified individuals’ feelings of loneliness and the Mental Health Foundation UK states: “At the beginning of the pandemic, loneliness levels were much the same as they had been in 2016-17, with 5 per cent of adults in Great Britain saying they were often or always lonely.”

“By February 2021, however, this had increased to 7.2 per cent – 3.7 million adults.”

The foundation wants to tackle this, and gives some coping strategies for loneliness including doing things we enjoy, doing things to stimulate the mind, physical activities, trying to engage with people daily, spending time with pets, using social media in a positive way and talking therapy.”

Remember, loneliness is nothing to be ashamed of and is something we have all felt #IveBeenThere.

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