If you or someone who you know is suffering from loneliness. Here are some top tips on how you can solve this problem.

1. Know that loneliness can impact anyone, no matter their relationship status, health, wealth, family set-up, career, age, gender, and sexuality. You are not doing anything WRONG!
2. Accepting that feelings of loneliness can come and go – it’s rarely a permanent state and can impact anyone. But acknowledging that it’s essential to recognise and confront.
3. Loneliness stems from a lack of connection. There are many forms of disconnection, from social distancing and isolation during lockdowns, homeworking and lack of social interaction, reliance on social media, and ‘at a distant’ relationships. Identifying some of the sources of disconnection in your life can help you challenge loneliness.
4. What’s your purpose? Identifying this can help focus your thoughts, efforts and intentions on a broader level. Giving meaning to your day and your actions can make a big difference to the feelings of loneliness.
5. Accept there is no quick-fix solution to loneliness. Jumping into a relationship with someone who isn’t right for you won’t make you feel less lonely. Plenty of people in relationships who live with a partner or family feel intense loneliness.
6. Look at who you have in your life right now. In De-Twat Your Life!, one of the practical steps is to consider who deserves a seat on your ‘Top Team’. Carolyn has designed this ‘tool’ to assess the critical people in your network and then make informed decisions about them based on what role they perform in your team and their impact on you. There are 12 characters such as Motivator, Financier, Cheerleader, Challenger and Helper. Each has possible positive and negative behavioural implications. Still, by evaluating the critical people in your life against these, you can keep close to you the right ones and distance yourself from the wrong ones.