Mr Shmigel said many people also cultivated idyllic versions of themselves and their lives on social media, a process that has been named "digital amnesia".

"We've been in families and we've been in communities because we need direct, real, human, sticky, gooey, social contact. It's what keeps us well."

"The more connected we are online, physically we don't have time to be connected in real life, and that goes against the grain of hundreds of thousands of years of human experience.

"We've seen the restructuring of the conventional way of our society. We don't know the neighbours on our own streets ... and at the same time you're getting this amazing phenomenon called social media, which I believe has the capacity to accelerate those senses of loneliness and isolation," Mr Shmigel said.

"We filter out all of the things that are unattractive about our lives and our personas for the purposes of social media, and only put our best foot forward," he said.

As a result, many people were left wondering whether, for example, they were the only unhappy person on Facebook, while there was also an intense pressure to have the "best car, the best holiday or the right dress", Mr Shmigel said.

The demand for help from Lifeline was both heart-wrenching, but also heart-warming, because more people felt they could reach out and discuss their mental health issues with others, Mr Shmigel said.

"Mental health has become a mainstream discussion, whether it's in the media, whether in a pub or in the workplace," he said.

"We've made it socially acceptable to increasingly reach out and share about the things that concern us, and that is wonderful. People now have the green light to say 'I'm in trouble here, and I need somebody else to help me get out of trouble'."