How to be alone, NOT LONELY

Connecting to others is vital for wellbeing, but at this time of year more than any other it's easy to feel the pangs of loneliness

Solitary TV dinners for one, quiet hours spent with a book in the bath, sleeping solo or simply roaming around a desperately silent house. If you have a busy family life and a thriving social circle, it's likely this alone time is much-needed bliss. But for the millions of people in the UK who are suffering from loneliness, solitude is a frequent source of misery that can be crippling. In fact, lack of social connection can be seriously bad for our health - and equal to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. So isn't it time we tackled the problem of loneliness?

The loneliness epidemic

As a nation, we are getting lonelier - the number of over 50s experiencing loneliness is set to reach two million by 2026, a rise of 49% in 10 years. With longer, darker nights and shorter, colder days, feelings of isolation can increase around this time of year - especially with Christmas around the corner, when the social connection seems to be at the forefront of everyone's minds. But what can cause loneliness in the first place?