Loneliness seen as biggest cause of stress

Loneliness causes more sleepless nights than credit card debt, work pressures or environmental concerns, according to a new report.

Research conducted on behalf of dating service Parship indicates that 51 per cent of Britain's 13 million singles see loneliness as the greatest cause of stress. These individuals are losing an average of 28 days sleep each year as a result of their concerns about never meeting somebody to share their life with.

Only 18 per cent of single people in the UK said that financial problems were a cause of stress. The same proportion pointed to work pressures and seven per cent cited family issues.

Dr Victoria Lukats, psychiatrist and dating expert, said: "Whilst many people see being single as a positive choice statistics show that the majority ? 60 per cent of UK singles - would prefer to be in a relationship and are looking for that special person to share their life with.

"Unfortunately it's more headline-grabbing to say '£1 billion worth of debt is causing misery for thousands' when in fact loneliness is causing misery for six million singles."

Interestingly, research conducted for the Elizabeth Finn Trust in 2005 found that single adults without dependent children have become the UK's largest group of people living in poverty.