Collected Minds<\/a> \u2014 an online psychology practice providing mental health support across Australia \u2014 as well as a member of the Australian Association of Psychologists, explains that this wall isn\u2019t malicious.<\/p>\n\u201cMany people form their closest friendships in school or university and maintain them over decades,\u201d Ms Clayton told news.com.au <\/p>\n
\u201cIn Australia, we have a culture of longstanding friendships. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s less about Australians being closed off and more that people are time-poor and already have their social needs met. They\u2019re \u2018socially saturated.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
April agreed with this sentiment, claiming Australians already have \u201cquite established friendship groups\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cAs someone coming in later, it can take more effort to find your place socially. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere can be a natural difference between people who are settled long-term and those who are here temporarily.\u201d<\/p>\n
The weakening of the \u2018social muscle\u2019<\/p>\n
This structural insularity is compounded by a generational crisis: the diminishing of collective social skills. <\/p>\n
Experts from the University of Vermont recently identified a sharp decline in young people\u2019s ability to build new relationships, noting that post-lockdown, students transitioned into adulthood with poorly developed skills to communicate emotions non-verbally and regulate emotional displays.<\/p>\n
Ms Clayton views this as a direct disruption of a critical developmental window.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany young people spent those formative years in lockdowns, studying remotely and socialising primarily online,\u201d Ms Clayton said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe opportunities to practice initiating conversations and tolerating the awkwardness that comes with building new friendships were reduced. <\/p>\n
\u201cSocial confidence works like a muscle. If we don\u2019t use it, it weakens.\u201d<\/p>\n
To cope, many young migrants rely on a digital tether to home. <\/p>\n
While maintaining close ties provides vital emotional security, Ms Clayton warns it can become a double-edged sword. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf all emotional needs are met online with people thousands of kilometres away, there can be less motivation to tolerate the discomfort that comes with building a new life locally,\u201d she claimed.<\/p>\n
The physiological effects of loneliness <\/p>\n
The price of failing to build that local network extends far beyond emotional sadness. <\/p>\n
Ms Scott points to a stark medical consensus, where a 2025 research paper found that social isolation and loneliness produce profound autonomic nervous system dysregulation, contributing to cardiovascular problems and increased inflammation. <\/p>\n
Socially isolated individuals face a 29 per cent higher risk of heart disease and a 32 per cent elevated risk of stroke, risks that can accumulate quietly over years, beginning in young adulthood.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe body\u2019s fight-or-flight system interprets prolonged social disconnection as a threat,\u201d Ms Clayton explains. <\/p>\n
\u201cOver time, chronic loneliness is associated with increased cortisol levels, poor sleep, anxiety, and depression. <\/p>\n
People become hypervigilant and start expecting rejection, creating a vicious cycle where withdrawal further reduces opportunities for connection.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cost of living impacts us socially <\/p>\n
Crucially, economic factors play a massive role.<\/p>\n
\u201cYoung adults are experiencing housing stress and cost-of-living pressures,\u201d Clayton shared.<\/p>\n
\u201cConnection requires time, energy, and money. If you\u2019re working two jobs and worried about paying rent, social connections become something you intend to prioritise later.<\/p>\n
\u201cLoneliness isn\u2019t just a psychological issue; it\u2019s about creating environments where connection is possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Forcing the \u2018social muscle\u2019 to work<\/p>\n
Despite these steep hurdles, the friction of expat isolation can act as a transformative catalyst for growth. <\/p>\n
Stripping away familiar support structures forces a self-reckoning that a comfortable local routine rarely demands.<\/p>\n
To break the cycle, April aggressively pushed past her comfort zone, forcing her \u201csocial muscle\u201d to work by using friendship apps and reaching out to people through TikTok comments in Brisbane. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt took a long time, but over time I have built a small community here,\u201d she revealed.<\/p>\n
\u201cBack in England, I probably would have stayed in a predictable routine without stepping back and reassessing things.<\/p>\n
\u201cComing to Australia gave me the privilege of realising I need to do a deep internal questioning of myself. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve had to completely break down who I thought I was, and I have only just begun to rebuild it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Australia\u2019s loneliness era is real, but changing the narrative requires moving past the shame of isolation, demanding structural spaces that foster community, and finding the collective courage to tolerate the awkwardness of reaching out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australia is one of the best countries in the world, and has many foreigners eager to move here.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":752024,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[64,63,166037,201760,137,33019,85795],"class_list":["post-752023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-expat","tag-foreigners","tag-health","tag-loneliness","tag-moving"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752023","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=752023"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752023\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/752024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=752023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=752023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=752023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}