Loneliness can be countered by knowing only six neighbors, according to a study

Ms. Gunstone had taken a break from work due to IVF treatments, and the timing of the transfer coincided with the introduction of coronavirus restrictions that prevented her from interacting with new people.

Ms. Gunstone joined Nextdoor in a desperate attempt at social connection and was surprised at the impact making friends had on her self-esteem. “Since meeting some members of my local community online, I feel so much better about myself, I realized it’s perfectly normal to feel a little left out, but there are things you can do to fix it,” she said.

As the restrictions eased, Ms. Gunstone set up a weekly lunch club with some of the community women, as well as a local support group for people undergoing IVF. “I finally have people I can invite to my baby shower when I get pregnant. Now I consider some of my neighbors to be my closest friends,” she said.

Before the pandemic, Melburnian Joey Aboud spent half of his time in Bali, his newly married wife’s base and one of his businesses.

He hasn’t seen his wife since they got married in February, as she runs their Balinese business from Indonesia.

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It wasn’t until the coronavirus hit that he realized that splitting his time between Richmond and Bali meant he had sacrificed a sense of community, “it was extremely difficult.”

Mr. Aboud found that the sense of isolation began to dominate his interactions with staff at work. “I had to open up to them and say, ‘I’m struggling, I feel like I’ve given up who I am.’ It was liberating to hear them say ‘so I’m the boss.’ The reality is, everyone struggles with loneliness,” she said. .

Finding new friends in his neighborhood has “significantly boosted” Mr. Aboud’s mood. “I was overwhelmed by the people approaching the same boat, for the complete strangers who took the time of their day just because they lived nearby it was absolutely special,” he said.

According to the Australian Psychological Society, one in four Australian adults is alone and experiences high levels of social interaction anxiety.

At the start of the observation period for the study, one in 10 participants said they experience loneliness. Eventually, this was reduced to 1 in 20.

“The kindness initiative encouraged random interactions and, as the results showed, mitigated the loneliness of participants globally. Something as simple as having regular contact with six neighbors where they show care and concern has a great effect on the perception of the connection, “said Dr. Lim.

The study indicates that the most effective interactions in decreasing loneliness are not actually meaningful experiences with a close friend or family member, but accidental moments with unrelated relatives made on a repeated basis, such as a local bartender or babysitter.

These interactions, known as “weak links”, suffered the most during the pandemic.

Nextdoor Australia chief Jennie Sager attributes the erosion of weak ties as the reason Nextdoor subscriptions increased by more than 100% during lockouts.

“When suddenly you’re home alone and can’t have your regular monthly chat with your hairdresser or daily interaction with the owner of your local bar, depression and anxiety kick in and you’re looking for a connection,” he said. said Ms. Sager.