Youth find offline world a lonely place

THEY are more connected online than ever before, but young Victorians are experiencing high levels of loneliness and social isolation that is putting them at risk of anxiety and depression, new research has found.

But wellbeing experts say feelings of loneliness should be a wake-up-call, rather than an alarm, and prompt people to take action to strengthen relationships and find new hobbies.

A survey of 1500 young people by Vic Health and Swinburne University of Technology found that more than half of youth aged 12-25 years felt lonely sometimes or often.

More than a quarter said they were lonely at least three times a week, while almost half reported always or sometimes feeling like they had no one to turn to.

Swinburne’s Dr Michelle Lim, scientific chairwoman of the Australian Coalition to End Loneliness, said while social connections were typically measured in terms of the quantity of relationships, new research was showing that the quality was more important.

“Don’t just count the number of people that you live with or socialise with, you need to be meaningfully connected to them for it to make a difference to your health,” Dr Lim said.

“Young people are in a life stage where they’re happy to socialise and they are active, but can they confide in the people they’re socialising with? Do they have meaningful connections?”

Dr Lim said loneliness was a normal human feeling, and should be treated just like quenching a hunger or thirst.

“Rather than thinking; I’m a loser, I don’t have any friends, it’s saying that what you have right now is not for your satisfaction. You have to do something different,” she said.

Christopher Phung, 21, returned home to Melbourne after 18 months studying overseas to find his family had moved away and friends were in different life stages.

Mr Phung said he worked hard to reframe these negative feelings of loneliness as a chance to build new relationships and hobbies.

“I started saying yes to a lot of opportunities and being more open,” Mr Phung said.