What is loneliness?
Loneliness is something that we all feel at some point, but defining what it means and how it’s experienced can be extremely individual. On top of this, as the quote above alludes to, it’s also likely to intersect with other factors. Loneliness can go hand in hand with social isolation, negative thoughts and poor mental health, creating a chicken-and-egg situation as these experiences can cause further loneliness.
To provide some clarity, a 2018 [1] report from the European Commission (EC) describes how there is some general consensus that loneliness is an unpleasant feeling that stems from a real or perceived lack of or low-quality social networks or interactions. It is often linked to social isolation but should be understood as separate, as is it possible for someone to still feel lonely even though they aren’t socially isolated.
Aside from being hard to define, common misconceptions and stereotypes make loneliness and social isolation difficult to tackle. For example, it is often assumed to be an issue that only affects the elderly, but in reality, it affects all age groups. This can make it more difficult to identify. The previously mentioned EC report also describes the stigma attached to loneliness, as lonely people are often thought of as being socially inept. Some of this stigma means that many people are hesitant to admit they are struggling with loneliness and “76% of people thought ‘people often feel ashamed or embarrassed about feeling lonely’”.
The same report goes on to explain that the difficulty with the stigma and assumptions surrounding loneliness is that it prevents people from identifying their loneliness and responding to it. As people may be less likely to report their loneliness it makes it difficult to identify the scale of the problem and provide the help and support that is needed.
The impact of loneliness:
As the WHO infographic below indicates, loneliness and social isolation don’t just impact mental health. A feeling of being alone can have:
Serious health impacts - including an increased mortality rate and an increased risk of a stroke or heart disease [2].
Political impacts - loneliness can be understood as the antithesis of social cohesion, integration and trust, making it unsurprising that those who are lonely are more likely to be politically disengaged, which, in turn, is prompting fears that loneliness is impacting European democracy [3].
Economic impacts - A report based in Spain also indicates that loneliness is having an economic impact, due to healthcare costs and impacts of productivity.
However, it is also worth keeping in mind that a 2020 review of loneliness cost-of-illness studies, highlights the need for further research [4].
Refugees and asylum seekers at risk
Migration commonly includes a loss of social networks putting those on the move and those who have entered a new community at risk of feelings such as stress, sadness and loneliness.
When talking about refugees and asylum seekers specifically, they’re particularly likely to experience loneliness due to factors, such as:
Language - Language is essential for creating a community and friends [5]. A report by Refugee Action, stresses the role of language and how cuts to ESOL classes have greatly increased feelings of loneliness and isolation.
Lack of employment or difficulties entering education - Refugees and asylum seekers face multiple restrictions and barriers when it comes to employment and education, removing a source of social interaction and contributing to feelings of loneliness and social isolation. This factor is also often gendered as refugee women, who lack education or previous formal work experience struggle to find employment [6].
Location - With the decline of rural populations refugees and asylum seekers are increasingly placed in more remote areas [7].
Feelings of racial loneliness - “Racial loneliness is a phenomenon experienced by individuals of colour in predominantly white settings[8]." Refugees and asylum seekers may also experience racial loneliness alongside feeling othered for being the only asylum seeker in a space. It can also take the form of being othered or not welcome in the spaces that you’re occupying, both of which can contribute to feelings of isolation.
Prejudice and discrimination worsen loneliness
It’s important to consider how many of those who migrate are already likely to experience prejudice and discrimination in Europe. This creates a form of double stigma both for being an asylum seeker and for being lonely, worsening the experience.
On top of this, prejudice and discrimination also exacerbate feelings and experiences of isolation further [9]. Policies and discourses that are hostile towards refugees and asylum seekers not only deepen a feeling of isolation and rejection from the receiving society but also mean that asylum seekers are more likely to be placed in unstable housing and struggle to settle, creating more mental health pressures and feelings of loneliness[10].
Recent research in Europe:
Palestinian Women in Iceland
A study of refugee women in Iceland [11] investigated the difficulties the women faced in overcoming loneliness. The participants describe how their traumatic experiences meant that they needed more time to settle down until they were ready to start learning about Icelandic culture and language and start applying for jobs.
Moreover, the same study emphasizes that forced migration often limits a person’s ability to make choices or plan their migration. People on the move aren’t always able to settle in a country where the risk of loneliness and social isolation could be decreased.
In this case, as the women didn’t necessarily plan to be in Iceland, it meant they found themselves in a place where they knew very little about the culture or language and had no existing ties. So, they were at a disadvantage when it came to combating loneliness and making social connections in Iceland.
Unaccompanied migrant youth in the UK and in Denmark
Two different studies illuminate another interesting aspect of the experience of loneliness in their research focused on unaccompanied youth in the UK [12] and Denmark [13]. Although they discuss multiple challenges to mental health and the struggles that the participants faced when it came to feeling discriminated against and lonely, both studies also highlight a juxtaposition between freedom and loneliness, adding further nuance to our discussion so far.
The UK study is focused on Afghan unaccompanied migrant youth* and it identifies the juxtaposition between freedom and loneliness. That, on the one hand, having arrived in the UK without their family the participants felt free to make their own life choices and follow their dreams. However, this was contrasted with the feelings of being separated from their family and, in particular, the difficulties of having no guidance and having to make important choices by yourself.
Similarly, the study of unaccompanied refugee adolescents in Denmark found that the participants described how they simultaneously wanted their freedom and missed being cared for.
Ultimately, demonstrating a link between freedom or individual wants on the one hand and loneliness on the other, that whilst familial ties may restrict our freedoms they also provide support, care and combat feelings of being alone.
What can you do?
If you’re experiencing loneliness, the aforementioned Mental Health Foundation has produced this list of coping mechanisms as well as advice for how to help others.
Volunteering and creating community - Those who are experiencing loneliness are more likely to volunteer and thus, it has been highlighted as a method for combating loneliness and social isolation [14], making it vital for us to not only support these efforts but to be conscious of loneliness to help to continue to create welcoming, open and communal spaces for all.
*The participants had a range of immigration statuses including: asylum seeker, refused asylum seeker, discretionary leave to remain
References
[1]Béatrice d'Hombres, Sylke Schnepf, Martina Barjakovà and Francisco Teixeira Mendonça (2018). Loneliness – an unequally shared burden in Europe. Based on the JRC report: Loneliness across Europe, Barjakovà, d’Hombres, Schnepf, JRC Working Papers in Economics and Finance (2018 -JRC113146)
[2] Hawkley, L.C. Loneliness and health (2022), Nature Reviews Disease Primers volume 8, Article number: 22, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41572-022-00355-9
[3] Berlingieri, F., Casabianca, E., Colagrossi, M., Dhombres, B., Kovacic, M., Mauri, C., Nurminen, M., Schnepf, S.V. and Stepanova, E.(2023), Key messages and policy recommendations of the one day conference on "Loneliness in the European Union: Policies at work", Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, doi:10.2760/592074, JRC134975.
[4] Mihalopoulos, Cathrine & Le, Long & Chatterton, Mary & Bucholc, Jessica & Holt-Lunstad, Julianne & Lim, Michelle & Engel, Lidia. (2020). The economic costs of loneliness: a review of cost-of-illness and economic evaluation studies. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology. 55. 10.1007/s00127-019-01733-7.
[5] Bourdieu, P. (1991). Language and symbolic power. Oxford, UK: Polity Press.
[6] Erla S. Kristjánsdóttir & Unnur Dís Skaptadóttir (2018): “I'll Always Be a Refugee”: The Lived Experience of Palestinian Refugee Women of Moving to a Small Society in Iceland, Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies [7] McAreavey, R. (2012). Resistance or resilience? Tracking the pathway of recent arrivals to a ‘New’ rural destination. Sociologia Ruralis, 52(4), 488–507.
[8] Suslovic, B (2020). Mitigating racial loneliness as transformative psychoanalytic work. Psychoanal Cult Soc 25, 480–489. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41282-020-00175-4
[9] Erla S. Kristjánsdóttir & Unnur Dís Skaptadóttir (2018): Ibid
[10] Nicole Vidal, Olivia Sagan, Alison Strang, Gianluca Palombo. (2023), Rupture and liminality: Experiences of Scotland's refugee population during a time of COVID-19 lockdown, SSM - Qualitative Research in Health, Volume 4,100328, ISSN 2667-3215, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmqr.2023.100328.
[11] Erla S. Kristjánsdóttir & Unnur Dís Skaptadóttir (2018): Ibid
[12] Francesca Meloni (2019): The limits of freedom: migration as a space of freedom and loneliness among Afghan unaccompanied migrant youth, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, DOI: 10.1080/1369183X.2019.1584703
[13] Jarlby, F., Derluyn, I., Vitus, K., & Jervelund, S. S. (2021). Ibid
[14] Berlingieri, F., Casabianca, E., Colagrossi, M., Dhombres, B., Kovacic, M., Mauri, C., Nurminen, M., Schnepf, S.V. and Stepanova, E.(2023) : Ibid
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