An image of the planet Earth with a face mask, with Lonely Planet written on the face mask.

Image: Anton Petrus/Getty Images

Image: Anton Petrus/Getty Images

COVID-19 crisis: we're all in this together, yet lonelier than ever

UQ graduate and audiologist Dr Bec Bennett discusses how loneliness can impact our health, and outlines what we can learn from people with hearing loss in the face of forced social isolation.


An image of a woman, from behind, staring out a window onto an empty street.

Image: d3sign/Getty Images

An image of a woman, from behind, staring out a window onto an empty street.

Image: d3sign/Getty Images

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are being asked to practise physical (also called social) distancing and, in some cases, to self-isolate. This is a necessary precaution to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus and reduce the strain on our healthcare resources. However, we need to be mindful of the potential emotional and psychological impacts that this could have on people.

Human beings are social creatures. We require meaningful social connections to maintain our physical and mental health. In fact, reduced contact with other people, or social isolation, is associated with poor general health, poor cardiovascular health, reduced cognitive function and mental illness. Loneliness is a side effect, wherein people become distressed because they do not feel adequately connected to others. Loneliness also poses a risk to our physical and mental health, and even increases our risk for suicide.

Although related, social isolation and loneliness are not synonymous: people can live relatively solitary lives and not feel lonely, while others can have a rich and active social life and still feel lonely.

It’s hard to predict the full impact that forced social isolation might have on the mental health of communities. With half of Australians already experiencing some loneliness on a weekly basis, it’s likely that forced social isolation will exacerbate these feelings, and potentially cause new problems for those people previously unaffected.

However, we might be able to #flattenthecurve for loneliness too.

Taking precautionary steps to increase social connections, while maintaining physical distance in these stressful times, may just save lives.

The experiences of people with acquired hearing loss can provide some insight. As part of the ageing process, we experience a gradual and continuous decline in hearing sensitivity. Hearing loss affects 13 per cent of adults aged 40–49 years, 45 per cent of adults aged 60–69 years, and 90 per cent of adults 80 years and older. Hearing loss often makes it challenging and exhausting to hear and communicate with others, especially in groups or in noisy environments. As such, many people with hearing loss socially isolate themselves, which subsequently contributes to loneliness and mental health issues.

But, not all adults with hearing loss are impacted in this way. Many adapt to new ways of communicating, socialising and participating in the community, and live connected and fulfilling lives.

While hearing loss can be isolating for many, others find creative ways to remain socially connected to the people around them. Audiologists (hearing healthcare clinicians) provide education and support on communication skills, social skills and the emotional costs of hearing loss.

Image: Edward Olive/EyeEm/Getty Images

An image of an older person wearing a hearing aid.

It’s hard to predict the full impact that forced social isolation might have on the mental health of communities. With half of Australians already experiencing some loneliness on a weekly basis, it’s likely that forced social isolation will exacerbate these feelings, and potentially cause new problems for those people previously unaffected.

However, we might be able to #flattenthecurve for loneliness too.

Taking precautionary steps to increase social connections, while maintaining physical distance in these stressful times, may just save lives.

The experiences of people with acquired hearing loss can provide some insight. As part of the ageing process, we experience a gradual and continuous decline in hearing sensitivity. Hearing loss affects 13 per cent of adults aged 40–49 years, 45 per cent of adults aged 60–69 years, and 90 per cent of adults 80 years and older. Hearing loss often makes it challenging and exhausting to hear and communicate with others, especially in groups or in noisy environments. As such, many people with hearing loss socially isolate themselves, which subsequently contributes to loneliness and mental health issues.

But, not all adults with hearing loss are impacted in this way. Many adapt to new ways of communicating, socialising and participating in the community, and live connected and fulfilling lives.

While hearing loss can be isolating for many, others find creative ways to remain socially connected to the people around them. Audiologists (hearing healthcare clinicians) provide education and support on communication skills, social skills and the emotional costs of hearing loss.

Image: Edward Olive/EyeEm/Getty Images

An image of an older person wearing a hearing aid.

What can we learn from people with hearing loss in the face of forced social isolation, and how can we stay connected without leaving our homes?

Connect with people through text

  • Bring back the pen pal. Write and post letters to your loved ones, especially the older adults in your life who might not have access to technology.
  • Start a text-message group. Messenger or WhatsApp are fantastic ways to create group text-message chats. You can write messages in real time and send photos or videos to each other. This is a great way to check in on people and help people feel like they are still part of something meaningful.

Bolster phone calls with live videoing

  • Facetime, WhatsApp, Zoom and Skype are all free services that transmit live video with your phone call. Be sure to check in regularly with the people you think might be struggling with isolation.
An image of a woman talking to her parents using live videoing technology.

Chat with your loved ones using live videoing. Image: amriphoto/Getty Images

Chat with your loved ones using live videoing. Image: amriphoto/Getty Images

Replace group social activities with virtual versions

  • Engage in virtual excursions, but not alone. Several websites provide virtual tours of internationally renowned museums and art galleries. Make a date with a few friends to do the tours together, at the same time, while on the phone to each other so that you can discuss the exhibits and artwork while being immersed in the virtual experience. Some great virtual tours include many Paris art galleries, national parks, and US museums.
  • Start a virtual book club. State libraries offer free eBooks, while video conferencing software, such as Zoom, offers free platforms for people to see and hear each other for group chats.
  • Not into eBooks? You can use the same premise for movies or television series. Hold an online group chat with family/friends who have watched/are watching the same show as you. 

Continue your fitness regime in your own home

  • It is important to continue exercising for both physical and emotional wellbeing in times like these. Many smaller gyms, physiotherapists and yoga studios are offering in-home virtual sessions. These often use video conferencing software to provide live training sessions (group or personal) direct to your home.

Take part in this virtual HIIT workout with UQ Sport Personal Training Coordinator Mark McCutchan.

Record short home videos to share with your social network

  • My children have been making show-and-tell videos to send to grandparents and great grandparents who are self-isolated. These include anything from a live running race, describing a LEGO creation, giving a book report, reading out a written essay, baking a cake, describing bugs collected, or giving a dance/music recital.

Watch Dr Bennett's home video.

Watch Dr Bennett's home video.

Continue family traditions

  • Family traditions nurture the family connection, giving us a sense of belonging and helping us to celebrate the invisible ties that hold our families together. Continue Sunday family dinners or birthday celebrations virtually and create positive memories using video conferencing software.

Social connection is a fundamental human need. Please make an effort to manage your social needs in these crazy times and reach out to the at-risk people in your network (such as younger and older adults, and those living alone) to socially connect with them during these times.


About the author

Dr Bec Bennett completed a Master of Audiology at UQ in 2004. She is a third-generation UQ alumnus, with her father Gerard Forde completing a Bachelor of Laws in 1985, and her grandmother The Honourable Leneen Forde completing a Bachelor of Laws in 1970 and receiving a Doctor of Letters (Honorary Doctorate) in 1996.

A profile image of UQ graduate Dr Bec Bennett.

Dr Bennett worked as a clinical audiologist for 14 years before embarking on a research career. Her research focuses on the emotional impacts of hearing loss. She currently holds a Raine/Cockell fellowship at the Ear Science Institute Australia for a project wherein she is developing an intervention program to improve the way audiologists provide emotional and mental health support to adults with hearing loss.