Zine-making workshop: Stories of loneliness and substance use

The format will include:

• A short, engaging talk by King’s College London researchers and peer mentors presenting key findings from recent research on loneliness and substance use, including real-life implications, to a non-academic audience to prompt reflections and interactions.
• An interactive zine-making workshop, where participants will co-create personal or fictional stories exploring loneliness and substance use through creative expression, giving the chance to integrate knowledge from the talk.
• Support and facilitation from a local artist, peer mentors, and researchers to guide the creative process and ensure a safe, inclusive environment.

This event will focus on how loneliness contributes to poorer health outcomes in people with substance use disorders, a topic that is increasingly recognised in public health and social science research.

People involved in this session will have the opportunity to interact with new research about substance use disorders, while having the space to share and integrate their own experiences and views into translated zine artwork.

These artworks will be shared through networks of local substance use services. Sharing the zine-making artworks will help raise awareness of the role of loneliness within substance use disorders allowing greater community engagement and dissemination that extends beyond the session in accessible ways to services. The IoPPN will disseminate online in its social media platforms visuals of these artworks, which will be also available online.

The event will be led by King’s College London researchers, and co-facilitated by peer mentors with lived experience. For the zine making workshop it will be facilitated by Artizineuk.

The event is open to all.

This event will be of particular interest to people who have lived experience of loneliness and substance abuse.

4th November 2025 (depending on participant venue capacity)