LET'S TALK ABOUT...MALE LONELINESS

Too many men have too few friends, and it's having disastrous effects on our mental health. Rob Kemp breaks the taboo on friendlessness and explores how to forge new connections through cycling

- Rob Kemp

With 15% of men saying they have no close friends, mental health charities are concerned that loneliness is becoming an ever bigger threat to male life expectancy. But could cycling groups, clubs and connections prove to be the salvation for a nation of lonely males?

Asif Haque joined a cycling group after suffering health problems in 2021. "Expectations in the early stages were low," admits Haque, 45, a school teacher from South Woodford, London. "We were middle-aged to older men, all from different backgrounds, and none of us conformed to the cycling stereotypes. But we learned from riding together to make it a positive experience and become friends." Haque is one of a growing number of people for whom cycling has opened the doors to finding new friends and expanding social circles at a time when men especially are in need of help.

Loneliness has become a modern affliction of epidemic proportions, with adult men the worst affected. A 2019 YouGov survey recorded that 44% of UK men admit to frequent feelings of loneliness. "The impact of loneliness and isolation is reflected in higher rates of depression and suicide among men-three times that of women and the peak is the 50 to 54 age group [suicide rate of 22.5 per 100,000]," explains Peter Hudson, a chartered psychologist. "One study I looked at said 15% of surveyed men said they had no friends at all."

Bonding by doing