One student said he threw up and had panic attacks because of the loneliness he experienced at university, and he’s not alone a study revealed.
According to a recent survey one in four students are lonely most or all of the time – this is more than the one in 20 adults who said they were similarly lonely in the most recent data from ONS.
Experiencing loneliness at uni
This data is shown in real life with the experiences of one student, Taylor Jones, who told the BBC said the first three months of university he threw up and had panic attacks and ultimately dropped out of his course due to the lack of support.
He said: ‘I had people I spoke to in my classes but outside of my classes, I would spend time sitting in the car or sitting in the toilets, waiting for any free time to be over.’
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He explained the loneliness became so intense he ended up not being able to stay through the whole of his university classes. ‘I left halfway through the class and sat in the toilets and just waited for the day to be over so I could go home,’ he said.
According to the BBC Jones did go to his university for help, support, and advice, but he said staff told him loneliness was “normal”, this is when he ultimately dropped out of his course.
During his time at university Jones, who is now 23-years-old, was living with his family and got the train to campus each day. However, he said he felt not living in student accommodation, or with others on his course, made it hard to make friends, but he did speak with people in his class.
Loneliness among students
According to the Advance HE / HEPI Student Academic Experience Survey 2022 over half of those surveyed, 59%, said they were lonely most of the time, all of the time, or at least once a week. This is even with the COVID restrictions lifted.
Feeling lonely all or most of the time was a particular problem for Black students (31%), LGB+ students (30%), students with a disability (36%), and trans students (47%).
The survey also showed mental health remains a very significant concern and is by a considerable margin the most common reason students give if they are considering leaving university (34% cited mental health, the next most cited reason was, ‘course content not what I expected’, 8%).
Many students also said the importance of lecture staff being able to support them as well as mental health specialists.