{"id":839856,"date":"2026-08-02T13:14:27","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T13:14:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/839856\/"},"modified":"2026-08-02T13:14:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T13:14:27","slug":"loneliness-epidemic-in-australia-why-middle-aged-people-are-facing-a-perfect-storm-of-social-isolation-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/839856\/","title":{"rendered":"Loneliness epidemic in Australia: Why middle-aged people are facing a \u2018perfect storm\u2019 of social isolation"},"content":{"rendered":"

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On the morning of July 16, when Argentina took on England at the World Cup, Nathan Lewin and his group chat of mates gathered at his place at 4.45am for breakfast with a side of soccer.<\/p>\n

Three years earlier, life looked very different. Lewin\u2019s marriage had ended, and he found being home quiet and isolating.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a household with my wife at the time and two kids. That all changed when we separated \u2026 the house was hard to come back to, especially being by myself,\u201d Lewin says. \u201cIt\u2019s tough because without reaching out yourself, you do feel very alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AfterAfter a marriage breakdown Nathan Lewin found himself feeling lonely.Janie Barrett<\/p>\n

The 42-year-old found himself lonely and socially isolated. But Lewin isn\u2019t alone \u2013 a rising number of Australians, particularly midlifers, are also feeling disconnected.<\/p>\n

A 2026 report from Ending Loneliness Together, released ahead of Loneliness Awareness Week<\/a>, found that one in two people living in Australia reported some form of social disconnection.<\/p>\n

Michelle Lim, chief executive and scientific chair of Ending Loneliness Together, explains the two ways the report measures social disconnection: loneliness, a subjective feeling when relationships do not meet your needs, and social isolation, measured by the number of people you speak to.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose two variables make up what we call social disconnection,\u201d says Lim. \u201cWe know from years of research that loneliness is bad for health and wellbeing, and social isolation is bad for health and wellbeing. But when you have both, it\u2019s not good.\u201d<\/p>\n

The breakdown by generation revealed that young people aged 18 to 25<\/a> are the loneliest, but least socially isolated. However, Australians aged 45 to 54 are the most likely to experience both loneliness and social isolation.<\/p>\n

Lim, who is in this midlife age group, theorises that being sandwiched between caregiving responsibilities might cause social disconnection.<\/p>\n

Editor’s pick\"Wipe<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cSo you are caring for children. But you\u2019re also taking care of older people.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter reflecting on it, I thought, how much time do you really have to invest in the relationship that you really want to invest in? Some people might also be going through divorce and marriage breakdown. So there are various things that might add to it,\u201d Lim says.<\/p>\n

During his marriage breakdown, Lewin found reaching out to friends a struggle.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did have my friends. I still had my core friendship groups, but when you\u2019re in my age group, most of your friends have paired up and have their own family. So I think I felt like a bit of a burden,\u201d says Lewin.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had to learn to change my mindset. I\u2019ve learnt that if people are willing to give you their time, then they value you, and it\u2019s not a burden for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lewin faced his loneliness head-on by hosting a free social board game night for adults<\/a> at the Little Big House community centre in Summer Hill, in Sydney\u2019s inner west.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to build my connection and give back to the community. And yes, I might have been a little bit selfish initially in my needs, but I\u2019m pretty proud of what it\u2019s blown out to be now,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

The report supports Lewin\u2019s idea, finding that regularly attending community events reduces the risk of social disconnection by 89 per cent.<\/p>\n

\"LewinLewin started a free board game night at a community centre for others who might be feeling alone.Janie Barrett<\/p>\n

And Lewin has become somewhat of a local celebrity. If he goes to the local cafe, nine times out of 10, he will be stopped by someone he knows.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s guaranteed I\u2019m going to have someone there that I can chat with, which is a really lovely feeling to have, and it makes that home isolation a little less daunting,\u201d Lewin says.<\/p>\n

Marlee Bower, a senior research fellow at the Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use at the University of Sydney, says community is important for a range of reasons. \u201cCommunities are especially important during major life events, periods of illness, financial hardship, bereavement and disasters, when people cannot always cope alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Bower, midlife can brew up a \u201cperfect storm\u201d for social disconnection.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople may be balancing demanding work, financial stress and the dual roles of raising children and caring for ageing parents<\/a> … This can leave little time or energy to make or maintain friendships. It can also be a period of relationship breakdown, bereavement, worsening health or children leaving home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her research into the impact of social determinants has shown that broader factors affect social health.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"In<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cUnaffordable or insecure housing, poverty, long or unpredictable working hours, limited transport and neighbourhoods without walkable, welcoming or affordable places to meet. The rising cost of living means that even going out for a cup of coffee is unaffordable for many Australians,\u201d says Bower.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is why we should be careful not to treat loneliness simply as an individual failure to socialise. It is often the systems and environments around people that prevent them from socialising in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Persistent loneliness and social isolation have been shown to lead to worse mental and physical health<\/a>, including a greater risk of depression, anxiety, trouble with sleeping, immune deficiency and cardiovascular disease. It can also make recovery more difficult when health issues arise, Bower explains.<\/p>\n

Lim says the World Health Organisation has made loneliness a public-health priority<\/a>, yet funding in Australia is minimal.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have significant investment. This is an intersectoral area. It affects your health, your social services, your housing, education. There\u2019s just been no strategy whatsoever to really make a difference \u2026 I think the solution is much more macro,\u201d Lim says.<\/p>\n

Bower agrees that on a macro level, governments can reduce the conditions that create loneliness and invest in social infrastructure.<\/p>\n

At a community level, she argues for more accessible places for relationships to develop through regular shared activities.<\/p>\n

\u201cHealthy relationships require time, trust and sometimes the ability to navigate rocky times, conflict and repair,\u201d Bower says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe goal is not simply more social contact, but meaningful, safe and supportive relationships and communities in which people feel they belong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Make the most of your health, relationships, fitness and nutrition with our Live Well newsletter. Get it in your inbox<\/a> every Monday.<\/p>\n

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\"AbbyAbby Seaman<\/a> is a digital producer and lifestyle writer at The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":835542,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[64,63,137,514,515],"class_list":["post-839856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-health","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839856","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=839856"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839856\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/835542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=839856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=839856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=839856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}