Back to all symptoms and conditions
General health information

Loneliness

Loneliness is the painful feeling that you have less contact, or less meaningful contact, than you need. It can affect anyone, including people with family or many contacts. Small, achievable steps and a conversation with your family doctor may help; seek help immediately if you feel despair or become unsafe.

In this article
Choose which sections to read

  • Loneliness is a personal feeling of insufficient connection, not simply a count of how many people you know.
  • You can enjoy being alone without feeling lonely, or feel lonely in a busy family, at school or at work.
  • Social loneliness is more often about missing a group; emotional loneliness is about missing someone you can truly turn to.
  • Persistent loneliness deserves attention because it can affect mood, sleep, habits and health.
  • Small, regular contacts usually work better than forcing yourself to build a large social life immediately.

Your response

Two anonymous questions

Did you find what you were looking for?

Do you now have a clearer idea of your next step?

Share article

Email

Do you need a healthcare provider after reading?

Search by type of care, organisation, name or district.