Why are we lonely? Holly found herself in a habit of being alone after experiencing years of illness; Tim moved into a studio apartment in Melbourne just as the second lockdown hit; Charity is working through generations of disconnection forced on her family through Stolen Generations; and Aleks finds the pressure of managing a multi-faceted career and study life can overtake his downtime and peace. We join our participants as they each meet their mentor and start to understand why they’re feeling lonely.

It seems as quickly as we’re filling this planet we’re each becoming more isolated. One in three people in Australia are experiencing high levels of loneliness; the UK has a Minister of Loneliness; and the US Surgeon General has declared loneliness a health epidemic. This matters, because while loneliness is a normal human emotion, if we allow that feeling to become chronic, it has serious health consequences. It can be worse for us than obesity or casual smoking.

Host: Jemma Sbeg

Participants: Holly, Tim, Charity and Aleks

Mentors: Dr Deidre Anderson, Barry Conrad, Sean Szeps and Tessa Blencowe

Experts: Professor Ian Hickie and Dr Lisa Mundy