This Is How Many British Women Are Suffering From Lockdown Loneliness

More than a third of British women are experiencing loneliness during lockdown, according to a new study.

Some 34% of women who took part in the study said they sometimes feel lonely, while 11% said they often feel lonely.

The number of men suffering from loneliness is much lower: 23% said they sometimes feel lonely and 6% said they often do.

The study by Lisa Spantig and Ben Etheridge, economists at the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex, found that mental health issues have soared during lockdown – especially among women.

Some 27% of women are now experiencing at least one severe underlying mental health problem – up from 11% before lockdown. Among men, the proportion has risen from 7% to 18%.

“It’s well documented that women have drawn the short straw on several different fronts,” Etheridge told The Guardian. “For example, they are more likely to have lost their jobs.”

The study's authors also suggested that more women are struggling with loneliness because they're more likely to have "multiple numbers of close friends" whom they've been unable to socialise with.

Another poll taken during the first week of lockdown by YoungMinds found that coronavirus had already hared the mental health of a massive 83% of respondents.

It's also been reported that life during lockdown is triggering PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) among survivors of sexual assault.

"We are hearing from survivors who are experiencing exacerbated and heightened symptoms of PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) under lockdown," Katie Russell of the charity Rape Crisis told Refinery29. "These include hypervigilance, emotional numbness, vivid dreaming or nightmares and flashbacks."

The Mental Health Foundation has posted advice on how to prevent loneliness during lockdown on its website.

"Staying in touch via video calls, Whatsapp or just regular phone calls, is vital," the charity says. "Keep up your routines where possible – for example if you play cards with your friends on a weeknight, try keeping this in the diary and playing a game on a video call instead. Or potentially join one of the many online quizzes hosted on Facebook or Youtube, playing as a team."

The charity adds: "If you’re not tech savvy, regular phone calls, messages or even writing letters are lovely ways to show someone that you’re thinking of them."