This week is mental health awareness week with the focus on loneliness. Loneliness is a common feeling since one in four adults feel lonely some or all the time. It is often a sign that something is wrong and that you feel disconnected with the world around you. For some people it can be difficult to tell people that they feel lonely because they feel:
• Embarrassed
• Unmasculine
• A failure
• Confused, especially if you have people in your life but still feel lonely
• Awkward in telling people how they feel.
The longer we feel lonely without talking about it or trying to resolve it, the more we are at risk of mental health problems. Some people are also at higher risk of feeling lonely than others because of life events or situations such as:
• Divorce
• Bereavement
• moving house
• Illness
• Living alone
• Loss
• Children leaving home
• Occupation/work life
• Shift work and unsociable hours
• Depression/anxiety (leading to withdrawal of social events and activities)
We know that due to the nature of driving alone and shift work, that many truck drivers can feel lonely but there is no single cause. Employ’s well-being survey carried out in December 2021, highlighted this and there’s no one solution but we will be posting information on our Driver Well-being Facebook group over the next month about managing loneliness, how to make connections and support others who are lonely, amongst other things.
If you are an Employ driver who has not yet signed up to our private Driver Well-being Facebook group, then click here.
If you are a client and want to know more about Employ’s ‘On the Road to Wellness’ campaign, supporting truck and HGV drivers with their wellbeing, then get in touch and email enquiries@eruk.co.uk
