University of Essex offers advice to those experiencing loneliness during the pandemic
Figures released today suggest Brit's feel lonelier since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis.
According to a friendship study by Snapchat Inc, the percentage of those experiencing loneliness in Britain has risen from 61% to 67%.
That's no surprise as the same results show 88% of us have lost touch with a friend during the pandemic, but the majority would also be keen to rekindle those lost relationships.
It's suspected that social distancing may play a minor part in that, as a third of people globally think the safety measure has weakened some friendships, and nearly half of people (46%) say they feel more distant from friends because they can't spend as much time together in-person.
Senior Lecturer of Psychology at the University of Essex, Gillian Sandstrom, explained why she think that might be: "Many of us are quite tactile, I'm a big hugger, so I find social distancing really tough. Even though it's wonderful to see friends in the flesh, it breaks my heart every time when I see them a can't give them a hug.
"Even though it social distancing gives us the thing we want the most, which is in-person time, it also has these negative consequences."
As coronavirus cases continue to rise, and with Tier Two restrictions imposed in Essex, there's concern there will be a continued impact on friendships, as people from different households are not able to meet indoors.
However, Gillian explains that it just means we have to take a different approach to the way we communicate.
She said: "Sometimes it takes a little time for us to figure out how to adapt, but there's lots of opportunities in our digital lives these days. We can have video calls with people, social media gives us lots of opportunities to stay in touch. We can send a funny meme, or reminding people of good times by sharing photos.
"There are other means but we just have to be a little bit creative about figuring out what they are, and not putting too much pressure on ourselves to be all things to all people. Even a small message, just something to say I'm thinking of you, can go a long way."
While some of us may have drifted away from some friendships, the pandemic has proved that absence makes the heart grow fonder, as the study shows 41% of participants say friendships are more important to them than ever and 44% have even reached out to those they haven't spoke to in a while.
The latter is something Gillian thinks we should focus on doing too instead of trying to make new friends, which the pandemic has made me difficult.
She continued: "Focus on reconnecting with people that you've lost touch with. The friendship report from Snapchat finds that 88% of people in the UK, almost everybody, has lost a close friendship for various reasons. Most of those people, 70% of them, want to reconnect.
"That's something you can do instead of thinking that you need to make new friends, you could reach out to someone you've lost touch with."
For many of us, reaching out to someone we haven't spoken to for a while can feel a little awkward, but it's helpful if we use techniques that we might use with a complete stranger.
Gillian said: "You might comment of something you have in common, we all have Covid in common right now, but you can comment on things you've done with your friends in the past.
"Another thing I do when I'm reaching out to a stranger is tap into my curiosities, ask them how they're doing, how their job is going, how their kids are adjusting to school during Covid, and humour is always a good way to connect with someone."
According to the study the number one thing people would want to do to reconnect is to send a photo digitally of them together (42%), while 40% would send a photo of a shared memory, and 31% would kick things off by sending a funny meme or GIF.