Season 3 Episode 5 - Loneliness and Mental Health

Living with ADHD and experiencing mental health challenges can have huge impacts on our sense of loneliness. After being diagnosed with ADHD in high school, Will realised that his struggle to connect was closely related to his mental health. Further diagnoses of Borderline Personality Disorder and Anxiety kept him isolated at a time when he needed to connect the most. In this episode of We Are Lonely, Will meets with mentor and psychologist Dr James Van Cuylenburg and explores the importance of being vulnerable and finding your place in the world. James sets Will a challenge that yields some unexpected outcomes.

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Join us as we tackle the growing issue of loneliness, and our deeply human need to belong alongside huge topics like mental health, autism and discrimination. We’re seeing the issue of loneliness grow all around the world, and while we may think of loneliness as something that mainly impacts older generations, research shows that 18-34 year olds are most likely to be affected. And yes it’s sometimes to do with phones and social media, but there’s more to it than that. It’s about how we interact with the world around us. So we’ve found nine very different young adults who are searching for connection in their lives. We’ve paired them each with a mentor who’ll give them insights and strategies to combat loneliness and navigate their way beyond. From ADHD and times of transition; to migration and childhood grief; each participant will explore an area of their lives that is causing them to feel lonely. Our mentors include Ru Paul superstar, Kween Kong; Counsellor and Artist Tessa Blenclowe; Academic and Fire Dragon Feminist Dr Quah Ee Ling; and Psychologist and Podcaster James Van Cuylenburg. Our host is Human Connection Scientist, Dr Ali Walker and we also speak with World Health Organisation and University of Sydney Researcher Dr Daniel Surkalim. We Are Lonely is funded as part of Medibank’s ten year initiative to combat loneliness.