Young and Lonely

A good friend of mine, James Duggan, co-wrote Young and Lonely: The Social Conditions of Loneliness, along with colleague Janet Batsleer. Young and Lonely ‘presents the youth co-research from the Loneliness was a three-year ‘collaborative research project between academics at the university and 42^nd Street, a Manchester charity specialising in support to young people experiencing mental health difficulties / emotional distress.’ The project went by the much more optimistic title of Loneliness Connects Us.

In a 21^st century in which most people over the age of 12 are already superconnected through an array of social media platforms, our youth, it appears, are lonelier than ever. What is causing this? What can be done to ameliorate these problems, before these teens grow to adulthood, and these problems grow to more serious mental health disorders?

The book investigates these issues with clinical precision and tact. Through the mediums of immersive theatre and youth and community work, the duo investigate how poverty, the experience of being perceived as an outsider, and how young people traverse the educational system all impact on youth loneliness.

I’ve spent years now describing, on this blog, how I’ve navigated my own mental health conditions of depression and anxiety. Loneliness has been a huge factor in these personal conditions. I was pleased to see the authors highlight the distinction between ‘being alone,’ not physically having anyone with you at a certain moment, to ‘feeling lonely,’ more a feeling of lacking something- an emptiness of sorts. This was one of many evidenced understandings that were highlighted in the book, previously swept under the carpet certainly for most of my formative years.

There are other reassuring passages, including descriptions of support systems available and testimonials from young people involved- their experiences, their triumphs and tribulations when thinking of their own mental health. I was surprised when I did my own research and discovered that the aforementioned 42^nd Street has been around for 40 years. Never once in my youth did I hear anything about it. Oldham / Tameside was perhaps too far for word to spread. No educational psychologist or support staff in school or college ever mentioned it.

The one criticism I’d make is that there are a few assumptions the authors make about their readers’ existing knowledge. I have no idea who Bordeaux is, (beyond a wine-making town in the south of France) and I’m still stumped on ‘Frierean pedagogies,’ ‘new materialism’ and ‘Gramscian traditions.’ Lecturers and examiners may be well-versed. This bloke with a C in English and a D in Science definitely isn’t.

That said, it’s an incredibly thorough, intricate and well-researched analysis of contemporary mental health.