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A minute to breathe

Box breathing: breathe in for a count of four, hold for four, breathe out for four and hold again. Four rounds, a little over a minute.

Breathe in

Round 1 of 4

Loneliness and support

Fifteen questions, four minutes. First the short UCLA loneliness scale used in national surveys, then the MSPSS support scale: who you feel support from, someone close, family and friends.

Take the test
  • 4 min
  • 15 questions
  • UCLA and MSPSS scales

Loneliness is not the number of people around you but the feeling that no one sees you and there is no one to lean on. You can be in a crowd and feel lonely, or live alone and feel surrounded. So the test looks from two sides: how lonely you feel, and where support comes from. Together they show where your supports are and where they are missing.

How to read the result

  1. 3-5Loneliness rarely troubles youYou feel connected to people.
  2. 6-9Loneliness is noticeableCloseness and connection are missing.

Common questions

Can you feel lonely among people?

Yes. Researchers distinguish social isolation, when there are few people around, from loneliness, the feeling of not being seen or understood. The two do not always coincide: you can live in a big family and feel lonely. The UCLA scale measures the feeling.

How is the result calculated?

The three loneliness questions are rated 1 to 3, for a total of 3 to 9: from 6, loneliness counts as noticeable, as in UK national statistics. The twelve support questions are rated 1 to 7 and give an average for each source: someone close, family, friends.

Why does support matter so much?

Feeling supported is one of the most reliable protections for the mind: people who feel they have someone to lean on cope with stress more easily, burn out less and recover faster from hardship. What matters is not the number of contacts but the confidence that help will come.

What if the result shows strong loneliness?

Start small: one regular meeting, one person you write to more often. If loneliness lasts and hurts, talk to a specialist: it is often linked with anxiety, depression and old relationship patterns, and all of that can be worked with.

What to take next

The Three-Item Loneliness Scale (Hughes, Waite, Hawkley, Cacioppo, 2004), based on the UCLA scale, and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (Zimet, Dahlem, Zimet, Farley, 1988); both are free to use with the authors credited. The test is not a diagnosis.