While staying home may keep us safer from catching different viruses, the risk of suffering from loneliness goes up. Loneliness has a wide range of negative effects on both physical and mental health, including:

• Cardiovascular disease and stroke
• Increased stress levels
• Decreased memory and learning
• Antisocial behaviour
• Poor decision-making
• Alcoholism and drug abuse
• The progression of Alzheimer's disease
• Altered brain function
• Depression and suicide

The good news is loneliness can be overcome, even while staying home, thanks to technology. It does require a conscious effort on your part to make a change. Making a change, in the long run, can make you happier, healthier, and enable you to impact others around you in a positive way.

Tips to prevent loneliness include:

• Recognise that loneliness is a sign that something needs to change.
• Understand the effects that loneliness has on your life, both physically and mentally.
• Consider doing community service or another activity that you enjoy. These situations present great opportunities to meet people and cultivate new friendships and social interactions.
• Focus on developing quality relationships with people who share similar attitudes, interests, and values with you.
• Expect the best. Lonely people often expect rejection, so instead focus on positive thoughts and attitudes in your social relationships. – Very Well Mind