sleeping medication; she explained what she Societal drivers of loneliness had needed was signposting to counselling to rebuild her confidence and get support for her Participants commonly raised concerns about anxiety about the future without a partner. As a wider societal contributors to loneliness. How we result the disconnection the participant faced was engage in public dialogue and how we structure unnecessarily prolonged. Others found that they society in the UK was felt to contribute to the did not yet meet the threshold criteria for overall causes of loneliness. Figure 9, below accessing services. summarises these challenges. “I went for the [psychodynamic] assessment Figure 9. Societal drivers of loneliness and the woman told me basically that because of the inancial [public spending] cuts, they’re Social only catering for people who are on the brink & cultural of suicide more or less…I couldn’t get it.” norms (Health, Female, London, 55-74) Financial Work/life hardships balance Neighbourhood safety – Living in a neighbourhood that was felt to be unsafe or uninviting was another barrier for some participants to go out and engage with their Political community. For some this was a sense of landscape Stigma unfriendly neighbours while others noted visible signs that raised safety concerns for them; e.g. street lamps often broken, people selling drugs, people shouting and intimidating others, Closed Digital and so on. communities age “I don’t think anything can make me feel more connected [to my neighbourhood], as I don’t like the sort of people who live here…this is Social and cultural norms – Participants a rough area.” sometimes raised that implicit social ‘rules’ about (Young new mum, London, 18-24) how people connect to each other, and with who, served as barriers to making new connections. For example, participants felt that there were social norms that ‘older people can’t spend time with young people’, and eating out on your own is ‘unacceptable’. Across groups, participants felt it had become less acceptable to chat with and start conversation with strangers; that it had become less socially acceptable to engage in social connection without a ‘reason’. Gender norms, which participants felt dictated what men and women can do and say with each other, were also seen as a powerful driver of loneliness for some participants. For example, some female divorced participants felt it would raise questions if they tried to form friendship connections with married men. Some What causes loneliness, and how can it become chronic? 26