While Christmas is traditionally associated with merriment and good cheer – a time for getting together with friends and family for celebration – many people struggle with loneliness at this time of year.

However, it’s important to understand that, if you or someone you know is struggling at Christmas, you’re not alone – and there are things that can help you cope and make things more manageable

Christmas festivities can exacerbate feelings of loneliness during the holidays, especially if you’re spending it alone, are divorced, separated, single or have recently been bereaved. Feeling like everyone else is having a great time together can also make you feel even more alone, even if perceptions based on what you see online or on the street aren’t always accurate.

Loneliness can co-exist alongside various mental health issues and can become a more serious problem itself, if left unaddressed. That’s why, if you or someone you know is experiencing loneliness – or anticipate it over Christmas – there are things which can help to alleviate it.

What can you do to help reduce loneliness?

• Connect with people: Whether it’s volunteering at your local animal shelter, visiting a friend or going out for a walk and just saying hello to people, find ways to avoid isolation. Spending time with people boosts our wellbeing and helps us feel less alone, while having a conversation with someone about anything at all can lift our mood and ground us in the present moment.
• Structure your days: If you’re lonely and are also coping with a bereavement at Christmas, then this can make the holidays even more difficult to navigate. Planning your days and giving them a structure can help, while walking/exercise that gets you moving and outside, rather than sitting indoors watching TV all day, can also help to support your mental wellbeing.
• Practice self-care: From saying ‘no’ to invitations and giving yourself time to rest, to planning activities you enjoy and removing any guilt you may feel about putting yourself first, practising self-care will help prevent overwhelm over Christmas.
• Ask for help: Even during the holidays, support from the Samaritans is always available, while Cruse Bereavement Care also provides support for those who are grieving (check online for opening hours).

If you are in need of urgent support over the festive period, you can contact Lifeline by calling 0808 808 8000.

David Babington, Chief Executive of Action Mental Health, has responded to the devastating statistics released recently by NISRA, which showed a rise in the average number of people dying by suicide across Northern Ireland.

290 suicide deaths were registered in 2024, while the three-year average increased to 238. In 2017, this figure was 204.7, rising to 220.3 in 2022, showing a significant and extremely worrying trend over recent years.

David said:

“Every single death by suicide is a tragedy and is preventable. We are all deeply concerned and heartbroken to hear the latest suicide figures for Northern Ireland. It is important to remember that behind these figures are real people, and we must never forget the devastating impact on all those affected.

We are calling on every government department, every Minister and all our MLAs to work together to develop evidence-based responses, and to fully fund and deliver on the suicide prevention services envisioned within the Regional Mental Health Crisis Service, as well as other key actions identified in the Mental Health Strategy, such as properly funding and integrating the Voluntary & Community sector, who are often best placed to provide the support needed.

We know that people impacted by isolation and loneliness, and those impacted by poverty are at increased risk. Appropriate services and policies are needed to tackle these issues, on a cross departmental basis. This issue affects every part of society, and we must respond in a joined-up way to get people the support they need, when and where they need it.

Suicide remains the single biggest cause of death amongst men under the age of 50, and it is critical that we address the specific issues around male suicide. We must also ensure accessible services are available for men who are feeling excluded from traditional support networks.

We recognise that budgets are stretched, and indeed organisations like Action Mental Health are facing significant challenges. However, there cannot be any excuse to not prioritise this issue.

Action Mental Health works every day to help support people with mental health issues, and to provide resilience building skills to children, young people, and adults in our community. These skills are designed to help prepare people for life’s challenges and to give them positive coping skills – they are vital life skills, ensuring people know when and how to ask for help.

Without sustained funding from Government, these services and many others in the voluntary and community sector are at risk. We need action now, to protect services, but more importantly to give people hope.

For anyone, who is in crisis or distress, we would encourage them, or a loved one, to seek help immediately by calling Lifeline on 0808 808 8000. Help is available, and suicide can be prevented.”

Local comedian Dave Elliott has undertaken a gruelling 3-day 300 mile cycle to highlight Northern Ireland’s escalating mental health crisis.

Dave is hoping that his efforts will help to help break the cycle of chronic underfunding in mental health services and also help break the cycle of mental ill-health and stigma which still surrounds it.

Dave Elliott’s mammoth challenge took him to many of the Action Mental Health services across Northern Ireland and he finished on the steps of Stormont on World Mental Health Day, adding his support to the call for the Mental Health Strategy to be fully funded.

“Northern Ireland has the ambition, the expertise, and the strategy. What it lacks is the funding. The cost of inaction will be more lives lost and people struggling to access the support they need. As someone who has seen the work of Action Mental Health and the challenges that people are facing, we simply cannot wait any longer.”

Action Mental Health has warned that mental health outcomes are being worsened by severe funding shortfalls and budget pressures that threaten the delivery of the Mental Health Strategy. They are also highlighting the severe financial pressures facing the community and voluntary sector who play such a key role in supporting mental health needs in local communities.

Northern Ireland continues to experience some of the highest rates of mental ill health in the UK, with one in five adults and one in eight children experiencing a probable mental illness. Evidence shows that the severity and complexity of local mental health issues are much worse than in other regions. Demand for services continues to rise, driven by financial hardship, social isolation, and pressures on families and young people.

Despite this, the funding promised under the 10 year Mental Health Strategy (2021 – 2031) has, in reality, fallen well short of what was planned. By this stage we should have seen an investment of around £77m in transforming mental health, with an additional £61.7m this year. However estimates suggest the actual amount invested is only around £12.3m. This represents only 16% of planned investment with further significant shortfalls forecast in this current financial year. Sadly, the funding that had been earmarked for the integration of the community and voluntary sector is showing the single largest deficit in current plans.

Added to this, many charities like Action Mental Health, are facing funding uncertainties due to the imminent end of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, which currently supports the charity to deliver vital mental health recovery and employment services for people living with mental ill-health.

Calling for a sustained funding model for the Mental Health Strategy, Action Mental Health CEO David Babington said “We have a clear and costed plan to transform mental health services in Northern Ireland, but without urgent and sustainable investment, that plan is sadly facing the failure to deliver. Every time we delay investing in vital services it creates longer waits, greater distress, and more lives put at risk.”

The region’s services remain stretched beyond capacity. Psychiatric and psychological posts remain unfilled, crisis services are under-resourced, and access to talking therapies and CAMHS is inconsistent and subject to lengthy waits. Voluntary and community organisations, which deliver a large share of mental health support, are also facing cuts and funding insecurity, with several organisations facing a cliff edge in funding at the end of March 2026.

Just this week, the Chair of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Northern Ireland, Dr Julie Anderson spoke about her fears of a lengthy delay to the creation of a vital, and already long overdue, Specialist Mother and Baby Unit for Northern Ireland.

The Northern Ireland Audit Office has previously warned that the mental health strategy is at risk without sustained investment, while the Public Accounts Committee has urged the Department of Health to give greater priority to mental health in Northern Ireland and increase the funding of key services.

David Babington added: “Mental health must be treated as a core public health priority, not an optional extra. We need a ring-fenced, multi-year budget that matches the scale of the challenge, and a whole-government approach to tackling poverty, housing, and inequality, to help us break the cycle of poor mental health in Northern Ireland.”

As the world marks World Mental Health Day on 10 October, Action Mental Health is calling on the Northern Ireland Executive to fully fund the Mental Health Strategy in line with its costed plans; protect mental health budgets in 2025-26, from any planned cost saving exercises, and ensure the community and voluntary sector is properly funded and fully integrated into mental health service provision as envisaged in the mental health strategy.

There’s still time to support Dave’s Break the Cycle challenge!