The Little Blue Book

“The impact of long-term loneliness on mental health can be very hard to manage. We fear that we may be living with the mental health impacts of the coronavirus situation for many years to come.” Dr A. Kousoulis, Director, Mental Health Foundation UK. www.independent.co.uk We need to prepare ourselves. The coronavirus pandemic will test the mental health and resilience of many of us. So too, the ground-shaking economic dislocation and the financial and social uncertainty will also test us. Over the next several months, we are going to learn a lot more about ourselves, about our inner needs, and our social connections and relationships. We will also learn more about our capacity for compassion – of reaching out to others to help them through this. (1) The Loneliness Epidemic; Health Resources and Services Administration (2019) https://www.hrsa.gov (2) Loneliness – What characteristics and circumstances are associated with feeling lonely? Pyle.E., Evans D., (2017); Office of National Statistics UK https://www.ons.gov.uk (3) Coronavirus: Mental Health and the Pandemic (2020) Cambridge University; Mental Health Foundation UK https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk (4) Social Isolation and Loneliness; Australian Institute of Health and Welfare; AIHW (2019) https://www.aihw.gov.au (5) Ibid. AIHW (2019) (6) Community survey of young Victorians’ resilience and mental wellbeing; Weinberg M., PhD; Tomyn A., PhD; Victorian Health Promotion Foundation, Aus (2015) www.vichealth.vic.gov.au (7) www.cigna.com/combattingLoneliness LONELINESS AND THE WORKPLACE: Ipsos polling 2020 U.S. REPORT WORKPLACES AND LONELINESS Email, Skype, Zoom and other electronic platforms considered to be the ‘glue’ of the modern office would seem to be no replacement for the watercooler, the lunch break, and the face-to-face chat when it comes to engagement and loneliness. Loneliness at work is an emerging challenge for workplaces and wellbeing. A survey by global HR think tank Reventure (of Australian workers) found that 37% feel lonely when at work. Of those, four-in-ten reported making more-frequent mistakes and being less productive. It also identified that 47% of workers who feel lonely report “poor wellbeing” and 36% of lonely workers report getting sick more often. However, a similar workplace survey by Ipsos polling in the U.S.v showed that the culture and policies of a workplace can impact on feelings of loneliness and work engagement. People reported feeling “less lonely” and more engaged at work: • When the workplace fostered good co-worker relationships and shared goals • When work-life balance was valued and promoted • When there was a close friend at work, or people with whom they “liked eating lunch” • When people felt they could be themselves (and not hide their “true selves”) • When they could “leave work at work” • When there was socialising with colleagues outside of work 7 Notably, new employees (in the first six months of their jobs) returned higher loneliness scores than longer-term employees. Ipsos also found that lonely workers were more likely to miss work (due to stress or illness), and more dissatisfied with their own productivity (felt their work was not ‘up to par’). PostScript Section 2 Section 3 Section 1 29 ADA Australia