Stay at home. That was the mantra parroted by hashtags and health officials during the Covid-19 pandemic. For months at a time, many of us were confined to our homes, physically distanced and discouraged from any sort of social gathering. It would be no surprise if you’re still feeling the knock-on effects of social isolation, years later.
And you wouldn’t be alone. The Connections Matter report by KPMG Australia in collaboration with Groundswell Foundation (a foundation established to address the growing issue of loneliness and its impact on mental health in Australia) found over one in two Australians (54 per cent) reported they felt more lonely since the start of the pandemic.
The myth that loneliness affects mostly older generations has been busted; multiple studies suggest the loneliest people in our society right now are young people, particularly women. The report by Telstra recently found one in two Gen Z and millennials reported they regularly feel lonely — a figure much higher than that of other generations, and
