Impact of lockdown on those living alone

The mental health of many people has been negatively impacted due to the pandemic. When the first lockdown was announced, adequate thought was not given to those who lived alone and the potentially devastating impact on their mental health. For those living alone, in particular the vulnerable, weeks went by where they saw no-one face to face. The impact of this has been either ignored or completely under estimated. Some suffered bereavements due to close family members dying and couldn’t even get a hug. For essential workers living alone, during the first lockdown they couldn’t sit in the garden with a friend or family member, 2 metres apart but they were told they had to go to work and sit in a room with work colleagues. That made absolutely no sense. The enquiry needs to address that the government got it very wrong by not implementing a better support system for those living alone.

Lessons needs to be learned and how people can be better supported if anything like this happens again. Mental health support services need more funding to help people deal with the negative impact being alone for so long have on their mental health.