Individuals with autism spectrum disorder Informal carers (ASD), for instance, suffer direct and indirect While the social care system supports over a consequences related to social interaction million people, the majority of care and support deficits. Youth with ASD often report a desire is provided informally by family and close friends. for more peer social interaction, and may also These “informal carers” are also at risk of becoming express poor social support and more loneliness isolated or lonely in their roles as carers. It is than their peers (Bauminger & Kasari 2000). important to remember that this role is a form of When integrated with peers in mainstream unpaid work with an estimated value of over £60bn classrooms, children and adolescents with ASD 7 may be at increased risk of peer rejection and to the economy. Without adequate support, young social isolation (Chamberlain et al. 2007). There is carers are also at risk of developing feelings of also evidence that social skill deficits in youth with loneliness and other health issues. ASD contribute to academic and occupational Many informal carers have care duties that take under-achievement (Howlin and Goode 1998), 20 or more hours per week. Charities such as and may point to mood and anxiety problems Carers UK have been pushing the government to later in life (Myles et al. 2001). provide more respite care for informal carers, and, Supporting people with enduring mental illness where appropriate, training to handle difficult to socialise, either by being matched with a health conditions. volunteer or by being given the financial means Imposed isolation (a small stipend) to engage in social activities, Some people have isolation imposed on them as a leads to improved social functioning, reduced form of punishment (especially those people who levels of social isolation and loneliness (Sheridan have been incarcerated) and others experience et al. 2015). isolation as a form of bullying. In both cases Loneliness as occupational hazard isolation is deliberately imposed on individuals to harm them in some way. Loneliness in the workplace Relational bullying is a form of bullying that In her review of three separate studies involves damaging an individual’s social relations, assessing loneliness in managers and non- for example by ignoring them or by spreading managers, Wright (2012) concluded that rumours about them. This leaves the targeted loneliness did not differ by managerial status. person at a greater risk of becoming socially or In other words, managers were found to be emotionally isolated and of feeling lonely. Disabled no more or less lonely than their non-manager young people, young people who identify as LGBT counterparts. This suggests that factors beyond and young people from minority ethnic / religious seniority may be contributing to loneliness in backgrounds are more likely to experience bullying organisational settings. In earlier work, Wright (EHRC 2010), but it is not clear whether this (2005) found that a negative emotional climate increases the risk of isolation or loneliness. and lack of collegial support adversely influences While relational bullying may directly increase the the experience of loneliness in workers. The risk of isolation, other forms of bullying (physical, results suggest that addressing interpersonal cyber) may also increase the risk of isolation or problems in the workplace and improving loneliness in later life. Research undertaken with the psychological work environment within young adults and their parents in the US showed an organisation may enhance the social and that parental loneliness and a history of being bullied emotional well-being of employees. There is also each had direct effects on young adults’ loneliness a question about the wider role that employers as well as indirect effects through reduced social could take in helping to tackle social isolation. skills (Segrin et al. 2012). A family environment that supports open communication can act as a buffer 7. http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171766_315820.pdf against young adults’ loneliness. Isolation and loneliness 21