Lifeline extends that definition to include the feeling of being disconnected from the world around you.

Whichever definition you choose, St Helens resident Kevin Wiggens knows the feeling all too well.

He spent the early weeks of March isolated in his backroom feeling scared, paranoid and alone.

He had a sore throat after returning from an interstate trip to play poker that had been cut short by growing border protections, aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19.

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His journey home started with him seeing people stretchered off a neighbouring ship while boarding the Spirit of Tasmania at its Melbourne side.

"It reminded me of ... when the Vietnam vets were carried off the army ships, it looked so terrible," Mr Wiggins.

"[When I got home] I just stayed in the backroom thinking I probably had [the virus.]

"I had no one to talk to.

"You feel like you're the last person alive on earth."

Mr Wiggens returned home on a Friday and as the weekend progressed he began to feel more and more isolated.

"Because it was a Friday and being 65, I didn't really have a way of communicating with anyone," he said.

"You don't feel like you are doing anything. You just feel like the world has changed and nothing is ever going to be the same again."

He wasn't the only person feeling alone.

March and April were Lifeline's busiest months on record.

Their crisis support lines have received more than 3000 calls per day from people needing support.

People from around Australia were sharing Mr Wiggins' experience.

Driven apart by a pandemic they have been yearning for connection.

In fact, Mr Wiggins wasn't even the only person in the small community of St Helens who needed help.

Fellow resident Leslie Jones was two weeks away from having a much-needed operation when the government halted non-essential elective surgery.

His mother had been put in a nursing home in New South Wales, but he was unable to go and see her due to the travel restrictions.

Mr Jones also suffers from post traumatic stress disorder and depression.

"There are a lot of lonely people down here in Tasmania," he said.

Both Mr Jones and Mr Wiggins needed support - and luckily for them, the community was happy to oblige.

St Helens Neighbourhood House had established a phone buddy system.

Vulnerable residents were put in touch with community members who would help; either by having a chat on the phone, picking up groceries or any other number of tasks.

Manager Patricia O'Duffy said the program was born out of need.

She said they had an overwhelming number of people reach out for support and express interest in providing it.

"People were feeling very isolated ... I had received a couple of calls from community members who were feeling quite isolated, vulnerable and lonely," Ms O'Duffy said.

"At the same time I had received calls from people who wanted to help."

A survey was distributed throughout the community asking people if they were willing to help and if they needed help.

Kevin and Les were among the 35 people who responded asking for support.

Les was paired with another St Helens local, Shirley Burrows, and Kevin was paired with a St Marys residents, Peter Power-Lawrence.

"At the beginning you feel like you're the last person alive on Earth and you really feel so disheartened about the situation," Mr Wiggins said.

"Then you get contact from someone who encourages you that you are doing the right thing and you're doing it for the right [reasons].

"Just talking to someone and them hearing how stressed I was, was such a relief.

"A bit of encouragement and a little bit of a laugh can really make a big difference when you feel so lonely and so lost."

"It means I don't feel so alone," Mr Jones said.

"Just having a voice on the end of the phone is really good."

Mr Power-Lawrence said he noticed a positive change in Kevin almost immediately.

"When he was first speaking to me he sounded very afraid and then by the end of the second conversation we were having a bit of a laugh," he said.

"That was really encouraging because I could feel that he was feeling more comfortable.

"I think it is really really, really important, [for] people who are lonely [to] have access to someone else to bounce things off."

Mr Power-Lawrence suffers from multiple chronic health conditions and has been isolating himself since the start of the pandemic.

He said while he was the one who was supposed to be providing support, the conversations also helped him.

"It is definitely a two-way street," he said.

Ms Burrows, Leslie's phone buddy, feels the same way.

She volunteered with the program to give something back to the organisation which had helped her over the years.

"I was a little bit down and out at one point a couple of years ago.

"I was able to go through Neighbourhood House and do cooking.

"Through that I met some absolutely amazing people and it made me feel that there are people out there that care, and that is really important."

She makes calls to two phone buddies and said the program helped her to feel connected as well.

"It keeps people in touch and lets them know you actually care," Ms Burrows said.

"It works both ways: I'm talking to them, they are talking to me so I don't feel alone either, so it is a really good thing."

Programs like the one being offered at St Helens Neighbourhood House have risen in popularity across the state.

One such program, Lifeline Chats, usually involves people getting together for a cup of coffee or various other activities. But since the beginning of the pandemic that has all changed.

Now, participants can expect a phone call at least once a week to make sure they are doing okay, and to check if they need any additional support.

Adam* has been using the Lifeline service for about three years.

He suffers from chronic fatigue and requires a wheelchair to leave the house.

When Adam joined the program he was lonely and was having suicidal thoughts.

Now, as someone who is particularly disadvantaged by the social distancing restrictions, it is again helping him connect.

"Chats have been giving me a phone call once a week," he said.

"It is a lifeline, pardon the pun, because there are some days where I find it very difficult to keep a sense of what is normal.

"It is just nice to know that there is somebody there on the other end of the phone."

Loneliness is not new problem for communities to deal with.

In 2018 a report from the Australia Psychological Society found about 50 per cent of people in Australia experience loneliness at least once a week.

But Dr Peta Cook from the University of Tasmania said it wouldn't be surprising to see that number increase significantly during the pandemic.

Dr Cook is a senior lecturer at UTAS's Wicker Dementia Research and Information Centre.

"At this time loneliness is going to be increasing because people are going to be cut off from their usual work routines as well as their usual social routines," she said.

"It is going to be quite a common social experience."

Towards the beginning of the pandemic Dr Cook said it was going to be important for people to find ways to combat loneliness.

She said it not only affects our mental health, but could also lead to a premature death.

"Most people are likely to associate loneliness with depression and certainly loneliness can lead to depression," Dr Cook said.

"What is probably more surprising is [it] creates a heightened risk for premature death, which is comparable to the risks of cigarette smoking.

"[It] has been linked to poorer cardiovascular health such as high blood pressure and heart disease, [and] older people it can create a quicker progression to frailty and also a faster rate of cognitive decline."

Maintaining social connection through phone calls and social media was on the top of Dr Cook's list of ways people could stave off feelings of loneliness.

For people like Kevin Wiggins, and other members of the phone buddy and chats program, that advice has rung true.

"You don't feel like you are connected with anybody and just having someone to have a quick natter to is such an important thing because it breaks up the isolation," Mr Wiggins said.

"Phone calls are an old-fashioned way of communication, a lot of people would appreciate a phone call.

"[They] are a really good thing when you are lonely."

*Names changed for privacy reasons.

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