With the issue of loneliness affecting nearly every student in the country, the consequences on both their studies and their mental health can be significant.

According to government figures, 16 to 24 year olds are the loneliest age group in the UK, with many of these young people facing these feelings of isolation in an unfamiliar environment.

Jack Donnelly left his family home in Troon to take up a degree in languages at Edinburgh Napier University in 2017. After failing to make meaningful connections both socially and academically, he dropped out of the course after less than a year.

“I was lonely on that course from the first day I started,” he said. “I felt completely isolated during my first year away from home, and would spend most of my spare time holed up in my room, with motivation to go to lectures basically non-existent.

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“It was already quite a difficult course, I fell further and further behind, which then led to me having even less motivation to attend lectures. I got trapped in a vicious cycle.

“In my head, I thought I was the only one dealing with these issues and didn't want to burden my friends with my problems, as they all seemed to be thriving.”

With statistics showing that university students feel uncomfortable opening up, Jack’s experience was far from unique. Feeling unable to confide in others, his mental health declined further.

He said: “Things got so bad that I began to have much darker thoughts. While I never acted on them, the fact I felt so low should have been enough of a red flag for me to begin seeking help - that sense of loneliness had me believing that I should be dealing with everything myself, and not bothering anyone who cared about me.”

Although finding success on a different course at Edinburgh Napier the following year, Jack said the university services were not options he was actively looking to use due his isolated state.

The 24-year-old added: “I wasn't aware of any services that the university offered, but then again, I didn't exactly go looking for any form of support. At that point in time, I don't think I would have made use of any services that were on offer, whether I knew they existed or not.”

Laura McPherson left her biomedical science degree at the University of Edinburgh in 2022. She also said did not consider using the services offered by her institution, highlighting a lack of trust due to anecdotal poor experiences from peers.

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The 21-year-old said: “I never really considered going to the uni for support because I had zero trust in them. I knew many people who tried to get help from the uni but they could not care less and their responses were useless, if they came at all.

“I felt so isolated from the teaching and the uni as a whole, I never felt like part of one big student body. I just felt totally alone with it.”

The pandemic only compounded the feelings of isolation experienced by students on campuses around the UK, with more than two-thirds reporting a decline in their mental health in 2021.

Left unable to socialise and meet new people, Laura, who now works in customer service, said that starting university in this period was the driving factor behind her loneliness.

“I think a lot of my loneliness was circumstantial," Laura, from Leeds, added.

"I was at uni for two years and only met, like, four people doing my course.

“I had just moved to a new city and uni was hyped up to be all about meeting new people and growing, but due to the circumstances ,and actually due to the fact that I didn’t really gel with any of the people at Edinburgh Uni, I felt so isolated.”

Coronavirus also played a role in the loneliness experienced by psychology student Andrew Soppit, who graduated from the University of Stirling earlier this year.

Andrew, from Perth, said: “I had a falling out with my flatmates over Covid rules as they wanted to go to parties but I was wanting to stick to the rules at the time “This ended in me not talking with them for months, I’d say this was my loneliest point as day to day I wasn’t talking to anyone.

“I think around this time my self-esteem was impacted the most, since then my social confidence has definitely declined. I feel it affects me today, especially when meeting new people on my postgrad."

The 22-year-old added: “In terms of uni, I felt as though I was very unmotivated, and my grades definitely reflected that.

"Personally, it was really difficult not having a support system in place and it felt very overwhelming.”