This month, we are focusing on one of the聽Five Ways to Wellbeing: Connect. Having a sense of belonging and connecting with other people is important for our wellbeing,聽but this can be challenging in the COVID-19 pandemic.
Loneliness is a feeling that we will all experience at one point or another 鈥� even if you are surrounded by people, it is possible to feel lonely. There are lot of ways to deal with the emotions that loneliness brings and to boost our wellbeing. Read through the聽NHS鈥檚聽
Ways to connect with聽others:聽
- 聽鈥� SUSU will aim to pair you up with someone with similar interests that you聽chat to and make friends with.聽You can join the scheme聽regardless of where you are聽currently living/based.
- 聽is a supportive online community where you can share your experiences with others who understand what you are going through.
- 聽aims to work with you to find suitable activities and social support to improve your health and sense of wellness. If you have a Southampton GP, you can refer yourself via the website. If your GP is based elsewhere, they may run similar services.
- 聽run a service linking people who are affected by the coronavirus situation to voluntary聽organisations聽who provide practical and emotional support. You can find out more information and refer聽yourself聽.
If you feel nervous about connecting with other people, you may want to try聽some聽.
Talk to Support Services:聽
It can be helpful to聽talk to someone聽about how you聽are feeling. 罢丑别听Student Life team聽are available to help you settle into University life and聽make it a positive experience for you.聽If you would like to talk to someone about the support that is available to you and make a short-term action plan, you can attend a聽Student Support Drop-in.
Further reading:聽
- 罢丑别听聽have articles about friendships and social life聽including,聽鈥淏uilding a network during coronavirus鈥�, 鈥淎ddressing conflict successfully鈥� and 鈥淔eeling lonely鈥�.
- 聽have聽lots of聽tips on聽how to manage聽loneliness.
- 罢丑别听聽have a guide on nurturing our relationships.
