Can Social Prescribing Tackle Loneliness?
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Be interested to find out if this is happening in my area. I just finished a course of sessions with cbt therapist with my local mh team. She tried a few times to encourage me to self refer to some services in my area. However, I’ve had lots going on with my health and just didn’t feel they are right for me just now. Also one of them I’ve used before and I don’t really want to go back. You could say I’ve outgrown them but in reality I’m still socially isolated.
Like others on here have mentioned for me I find larger groups overwhelming and I have had some success in smaller groups of 4 or 5 people. This takes me time to get to know and feel safe in the group and depends on lots of things for me to stay. But I know from experience that much success can be achieved from giving it a go. I try things once and then decide whether to stay or go.
This is after a long period of time working up to the trying part.
I rely on on my son a lot to support me when I am going out and about outside as it’s one of my issues. I often wonder what other people do when they don’t have someone close to support them and how much harder that must be? I also know this won’t always be the case for me when my son isn’t around and wonder what I will do when that happens? In an ideal world we would have “buddies” to support us with getting around as opposed to paid professionals like support workers and the like. Personally I don’t like the idea of that and I can’t see me qualifying anyway.
What are other peoples experiences of getting help to get around in your local area where you may have m h issues like social anxiety, agoraphobia or other issues please?
Thanks for the article. -
I am from the same town as Jo Cox (R.I.P.) There is a ‘resource centre’ in the town, now called Jo Cox House. I rang them and asked them to help me with loneliness. They couldn’t offer me anything! I found that astonishing! Jo worked so hard to end loneliness. There’s a building named after her, within it is meant to be a resource centre specifically geared to helping the community yet the biggest thing Jo stood for couldn’t be ‘catered for’. How can that be? I was told they couldn’t help me. That made me angry but mainly sad.I never did find help.I did some research and I found out about the ‘Looking Out For Our Neighbours Campaign which was being rolled out over Kirklees, Wakefield and Harrogate and I tried to get involved with being a community champion. I was able to help a little bit by giving out packs, but that didn’t work or last either. Lack of communication. I don’t know if it has had any success? No one has been in contact and you don’t see any communication about it.I tried starting my own group, called My Tribe. That didn’t work either!
There is too much stigma attached to loneliness. People fear admitting that they’re lonely. There’s not enough done to combat loneliness. People don’t talk enough about it. And I know that there are campaigns going on. But they’re not working.I don’t know what the answer is?
I believe that some people feel a deep loneliness from within. No matter how many people they be around and for how many hours per day they’re still going to feel a deep inner loneliness. This, I believe needs to be addressed by therapy. Most don’t approach GP for this and when GP is approached, the wait times are ridiculously long. Not enough resources. So many people suffering. Some people may get helped in this way. Who knows?
People have other barriers to seeking the company of others, I know... anxiety, panic attacks, other conditions too. It’s so hard.Also, even though some groups are trying to offer community support, the groups are only for a couple of hours on certain days, and normally don’t include evenings, night times and weekends. Loneliness can be combatted somewhat during the group hours, but there are a lot of hours in a week. What do people do for the rest of those long lonely hours? Most groups are during the day too. People are at their most lonely in the evening and at night. Weekends are long too.I have tried so much and for so long to get help and to help but nothing seems to work. I am still as lonely now as I was when I first spoke up about feeling lonely. This has been going on for years now. It’s crippling.We as human beings no longer belong to tribes and that’s the problem! I feel like I’m out on a limb and very much alone. We are tribal beings and we need to feel connected. Disconnection is the problem! These days we are even disconnected from family. Things have changed and continue to change for the worse.We need ‘Connection’.I don’t know how to help nor be helped. What’s the point in asking anymore? -
Moomoos that was written very well by you and to the point,its so very true. Even when I am with people which is rare including family that do not bother about me either sadly,all I can think is that this will be short lived and soon it will be back to emptiness when they leave,never knowing when I will see anyone again,its overwhelming and I feel worthless.There is nothing to get involved with in my area I have racked my brains thinking of ways to bring people together,for myself also to feel I belong and am doing something worthwhile bringing meaning to my life,its like a daily war fighting loneliness and always feeling loneliness has won. I have a disability but my mind is not affected other than depression caused by being alone,my illness came about when I was in my 40s and working in a job I loved,then having to live like a hermit is hard to come to terms with made worse when there is nothing to be involved in and people who need to remember disabled people should have every opportunity to be a part of the community and have a fulfilling life the best way possible.
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I used to get incredibly lonely. My disability prevents me from leaving the house sometimes and I'm also discovering I'm autistic so I struggle to connect and often deliberately isolate because I get overwhelmed.
I know it can be hard sometimes
I am always here and you're always welcome to message me or post on my wall if you'd like a chat Take care xxx -
@Snowflake56 keep in touch with us start a thread about your experiences your journey I would love to hear from you reguarly and see how you're doing.
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moomoos said:I am from the same town as Jo Cox (R.I.P.) There is a ‘resource centre’ in the town, now called Jo Cox House. I rang them and asked them to help me with loneliness. They couldn’t offer me anything! I found that astonishing! Jo worked so hard to end loneliness. There’s a building named after her, within it is meant to be a resource centre specifically geared to helping the community yet the biggest thing Jo stood for couldn’t be ‘catered for’. How can that be? I was told they couldn’t help me. That made me angry but mainly sad.I never did find help.I did some research and I found out about the ‘Looking Out For Our Neighbours Campaign which was being rolled out over Kirklees, Wakefield and Harrogate and I tried to get involved with being a community champion. I was able to help a little bit by giving out packs, but that didn’t work or last either. Lack of communication. I don’t know if it has had any success? No one has been in contact and you don’t see any communication about it.I tried starting my own group, called My Tribe. That didn’t work either!
There is too much stigma attached to loneliness. People fear admitting that they’re lonely. There’s not enough done to combat loneliness. People don’t talk enough about it. And I know that there are campaigns going on. But they’re not working.I don’t know what the answer is?
I believe that some people feel a deep loneliness from within. No matter how many people they be around and for how many hours per day they’re still going to feel a deep inner loneliness. This, I believe needs to be addressed by therapy. Most don’t approach GP for this and when GP is approached, the wait times are ridiculously long. Not enough resources. So many people suffering. Some people may get helped in this way. Who knows?
People have other barriers to seeking the company of others, I know... anxiety, panic attacks, other conditions too. It’s so hard.Also, even though some groups are trying to offer community support, the groups are only for a couple of hours on certain days, and normally don’t include evenings, night times and weekends. Loneliness can be combatted somewhat during the group hours, but there are a lot of hours in a week. What do people do for the rest of those long lonely hours? Most groups are during the day too. People are at their most lonely in the evening and at night. Weekends are long too.I have tried so much and for so long to get help and to help but nothing seems to work. I am still as lonely now as I was when I first spoke up about feeling lonely. This has been going on for years now. It’s crippling.We as human beings no longer belong to tribes and that’s the problem! I feel like I’m out on a limb and very much alone. We are tribal beings and we need to feel connected. Disconnection is the problem! These days we are even disconnected from family. Things have changed and continue to change for the worse.We need ‘Connection’.I don’t know how to help nor be helped. What’s the point in asking anymore?For the Jo Cox resource centre near you, it should be shut down. Ridiculous they’ve had the funding to provide what she wanted and have done nothing with it. You have the evidence to do it, sent it to the charity commission/their funders.
I completely agree about the stigma noone talks about it
I think lonliness has now become an accepted part of life. People have replaced connection with social media and we have forgotten how to genuinely be there and support each other. This culture of online dating isn;t helping either - the idea you let someone into your home after seeing their picture online maddens me. We let strangers into our home to be intimate with us, add strangers on facebook and never see our friends and family they become strangers to us because of an increasingly high cost of living, less wages and less time for everyone. This is a direct result of our structure of a society and how it’s worked out.
I agree with the deep lonliness too - therapy is good and there are some wonderful therapists out there. I would always encourage someone going through a life change or who may feel lonley and needs to start somewhere to start with therapy
In terms of time I think a lot of people are working days, nights, weekends and not even making ends meet. So you’re either disabled stuck at home sick can’t get out or you’re working your butt off to get enough money to meet the rent and it’s still not enough and you’re still not getting enough time for rest or sleep. I think having a bad economy has made us all bad friends. We need to address the problems going on before anything will get better
Theres no community activities anymore or a severe lack of them because the working have no time for them and the disabled can't afford to fund them and not fit to run or manage them alwaysI agree about tribes too. I think people have forgotten this and forget how to be a living breathing person, because of pressure to look a certain way and survive rather than be a human being. The problem starts with us all and ends with us all
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Birdsnbees said:moomoos said:I am from the same town as Jo Cox (R.I.P.) There is a ‘resource centre’ in the town, now called Jo Cox House. I rang them and asked them to help me with loneliness. They couldn’t offer me anything! I found that astonishing! Jo worked so hard to end loneliness. There’s a building named after her, within it is meant to be a resource centre specifically geared to helping the community yet the biggest thing Jo stood for couldn’t be ‘catered for’. How can that be? I was told they couldn’t help me. That made me angry but mainly sad.I never did find help.I did some research and I found out about the ‘Looking Out For Our Neighbours Campaign which was being rolled out over Kirklees, Wakefield and Harrogate and I tried to get involved with being a community champion. I was able to help a little bit by giving out packs, but that didn’t work or last either. Lack of communication. I don’t know if it has had any success? No one has been in contact and you don’t see any communication about it.I tried starting my own group, called My Tribe. That didn’t work either!
There is too much stigma attached to loneliness. People fear admitting that they’re lonely. There’s not enough done to combat loneliness. People don’t talk enough about it. And I know that there are campaigns going on. But they’re not working.I don’t know what the answer is?
I believe that some people feel a deep loneliness from within. No matter how many people they be around and for how many hours per day they’re still going to feel a deep inner loneliness. This, I believe needs to be addressed by therapy. Most don’t approach GP for this and when GP is approached, the wait times are ridiculously long. Not enough resources. So many people suffering. Some people may get helped in this way. Who knows?
People have other barriers to seeking the company of others, I know... anxiety, panic attacks, other conditions too. It’s so hard.Also, even though some groups are trying to offer community support, the groups are only for a couple of hours on certain days, and normally don’t include evenings, night times and weekends. Loneliness can be combatted somewhat during the group hours, but there are a lot of hours in a week. What do people do for the rest of those long lonely hours? Most groups are during the day too. People are at their most lonely in the evening and at night. Weekends are long too.I have tried so much and for so long to get help and to help but nothing seems to work. I am still as lonely now as I was when I first spoke up about feeling lonely. This has been going on for years now. It’s crippling.We as human beings no longer belong to tribes and that’s the problem! I feel like I’m out on a limb and very much alone. We are tribal beings and we need to feel connected. Disconnection is the problem! These days we are even disconnected from family. Things have changed and continue to change for the worse.We need ‘Connection’.I don’t know how to help nor be helped. What’s the point in asking anymore?For the Jo Cox resource centre near you, it should be shut down. Ridiculous they’ve had the funding to provide what she wanted and have done nothing with it. You have the evidence to do it, sent it to the charity commission/their funders.
I completely agree about the stigma noone talks about it
I think lonliness has now become an accepted part of life. People have replaced connection with social media and we have forgotten how to genuinely be there and support each other. This culture of online dating isn;t helping either - the idea you let someone into your home after seeing their picture online maddens me. We let strangers into our home to be intimate with us, add strangers on facebook and never see our friends and family they become strangers to us because of an increasingly high cost of living, less wages and less time for everyone. This is a direct result of our structure of a society and how it’s worked out.
I agree with the deep lonliness too - therapy is good and there are some wonderful therapists out there. I would always encourage someone going through a life change or who may feel lonley and needs to start somewhere to start with therapy
In terms of time I think a lot of people are working days, nights, weekends and not even making ends meet. So you’re either disabled stuck at home sick can’t get out or you’re working your butt off to get enough money to meet the rent and it’s still not enough and you’re still not getting enough time for rest or sleep. I think having a bad economy has made us all bad friends. We need to address the problems going on before anything will get better
Theres no community activities anymore or a severe lack of them because the working have no time for them and the disabled can't afford to fund them and not fit to run or manage them alwaysI agree about tribes too. I think people have forgotten this and forget how to be a living breathing person, because of pressure to look a certain way and survive rather than be a human being. The problem starts with us all and ends with us all
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I would find social prescribing totally useless, the social groups I have looked at attending are not run at the right times for me and I don't have enough care hours to be able to pay for my carer to take me.
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Hi @Snowflake56, I imagine this is very hard and please do let us know if we can do anything to support you.
Sorry to hear this @Jean Eveleigh, this must have been very frustrating!
Scope -
Depression makes you feel more lonely, however, a deep constant feeling of that emptiness or loneliness can often actually be depression.
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It sounds like you're really struggling @kami24, how has today been?
Scope
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