One quarter of people aged 19 to 29 admit they feel ‘very or fairly lonely’. 

That’s the shocking figure from the World Health Organisation, whose research has shone a light on a problem that is traditionally associated with the elderly. 

Speaking to Sarah Madden for The Pat Kenny Show, Dr Ann-Marie Creaven of University of Limerick said her research has found that is very much not the case. 

“It’s now very clear that loneliness is now an issue for young people as well,” she said. 

“Some research suggests that it might even be a bigger issue for older adults.” 

A lonely young man. Picture by: Alamy.com.

Dr Creaven said ‘emerging adulthood’ - as your 20s is sometimes called - is a time of rapid change and transition that can dislodge a person from existing social networks. 

Whether it’s going from school to college, education to work or just moving to a new city - it all means a new environment and potentially the loss of an easy and comfortable friendship group. 

“It’s a time of a lot of change in your social networks, it’s also a time where you need social networks because you’re actually experiencing a lot of disruption to your life yourself,” Dr Creaven said. 

“These factors combine to make that risk of loneliness higher for young adults than it would be before.

“Another factor that we found is that when young adults feel lonely, because there’s a perception that it’s literally for older adults, they often don’t know where to go with that. 

“So, they don’t know how to tell someone about that.”

'Like you’re being swallowed up'

One woman who has first hand experience of loneliness is creative Judy Wong. 

Aged 42, she lives by herself and found herself struggling with the lack of social interaction. 

“These four walls, they don’t talk back,” she said. 

“I was going through a bit of an emotional rollercoaster and I could just feel the loneliness creeping in.”

While loneliness impacts people in different ways, for Ms Wong it left her feeling incredibly distressed.   

“For me personally, my own loneliness just feels like you’re being swallowed up and that you’re not being heard, you’re not being seen, you’re very lost and displaced in the world,” she said. 

“You feel like you’re trapped in your own little wee prison, it’s not a nice thing - especially in your head.” 

In the end, she decided to create an Instagram account and just to say things “I needed to get off my chest”. 

“I didn’t know it was connected to my Facebook and then people started reaching out,” she said.  

In the aftermath, Ms Wong founded her own podcast, ‘The Lonely Gal’ to help others going through the same thing. 

Get on the apps

Another solution is to proactively get out and meet people and the TimeLeft app aims to facilitate that. 

Users are matched with a group of strangers and then the gang goes for dinner together. 

Every week it matches thousands of people in 32 countries. 

“It’s super simple,” CEO Maxime Barbier said. 

“You go on TimeLeft.com, you download the app and you answer 45 questions to help us to learn more about you. 

“Then, you just book your seat and you receive an address of a restaurant and the only thing you have to do is show up on time.” 

Anyone feeling lonely can also reach out to Samaritans for a confidential chat on 01 671 0071.

Main image: A lonely woman. Picture by: Alamy.com