Loneliness and mental health in the film and TV industry

Our multi-year Looking Glass Research has consistently shown that levels of loneliness and poor mental health are markedly higher among those working behind the scenes in film and TV than among the population. This latest study takes that insight a step further to reveal how and why the two are connected. 

This new research conducted in partnership with The Centre for Loneliness Studies at Sheffield Hallam University reveals for the first time how that relationship works. It provides evidence that factors like industry culture, practices and excessive or too few working hours cause poor mental health in the industry by making people feel lonely. 

As well as posing a huge personal cost, loneliness is also likely to be having a very significant economic impact on the industry. Combining 2024 figures from Deloitte and DCMS it seems likely that the cost to the film and TV industry of poor mental health among its workforce may be as much as £400m a year. The relationship between loneliness and poor mental health highlighted in our work suggests that loneliness may account for a significant part of that sum.

Given the ​‘canary in the mine’ nature of the creative industries – often described as the original gig economy – these findings also have troubling implications for the wider workforce, which is increasingly freelance, and will therefore be of relevance to policy makers across a range of sectors.