Loneliness pandemic

A recent report by the World Health Organization said that one in six people globally feel lonely. That’s a billion people who carry a gnawing, daily ache, of not being seen, and not being heard. Among them are teenagers glued to screens, older adults living alone, young professionals in crowded cities, and students far from home.

In India, nearly 8% of young people between 15 and 34 have said they often feel lonely. That might sound like a small number, until you realise what’s behind it: these are young people sitting silently in college hostels, going through exam stress without a friend to call, and scrolling through social media. Many live in joint families, surrounded by people, yet deeply alone.

It’s tempting to dismiss loneliness as a modern malaise, a by-product of too much technology, too little face time. But that would be a mistake. This isn’t just about phones or apps. It’s about deeper disconnection: the fraying of community, the disappearance of in-person conversations, the loss of spaces, family and social, that brought people together without an agenda.

Now friendships have been replaced by social media connections or followers. New communication technology has replaced evenings in neighbourhood parks with endless scrolls.

Studies have linked loneliness to a higher risk of heart disease, depression, and suicide. The elderly are the hardest-hit. They get little company, and the mobile phones have made it worse with the other family members usually preferring scrolling their phones over conversations.

The WHO report calls for big interventions such as national strategies, public funding and better research to ameliorate this silent pandemic. But ultimately, the antidote to loneliness is not found in policy papers. It’s found in people, in presence, in empathy; and in showing up for each other. This may not be the most urgent crisis of our time. More than the government, the society has to step in to address it.