Post-Covid Era: Are we facing the problem of loneliness?

Experts believe that people who live in cities face multi-directional challenges and it is very important to address the issue to maintain a balanced way of life.

Loneliness seems to be the biggest challenge in society in the post-Covid era. The frequent lockdowns and the appropriate Covid behaviour such as mandatory social distance have left people alone especially in urban settings.

This has impacted the mental health and overall well-being of people in urban areas where despite the overcrowding in the market and traffic jams on the roads, people feel lonely in their personal life.

Recently noted mental health experts Dr Samir Parikh and Kamna Chhibber released a book ‘Alone in the crowd: Overcoming Loneliness of Urban Living’.

It raises the important issue of loneliness in cities and towns and how to deal with that. They believe that people who live in cities face multi-directional challenges and it is very important to address the issue to maintain a balanced way of life.

Experts believe that mental issues are such which are very difficult to realise as it manifests differently.

“We recognize that there is a growing disconnect that many people experience within their families, communities and workplaces. This has a strong negative impact on their sense of well-being and can be a precursor towards the development of mental health-related problems,” Dr Samir Parikh, Director, Department of Mental Health and Behavioral Sciences, Fortis Healthcare, said.

He added, “As a result, it is critically important that we emphasize the development of approaches to combat this state of loneliness.”

According to Kamna Chhibber, Head, Department of Mental Health and Behavioral Sciences, Fortis Healthcare, “Research suggests that loneliness, in the long run, can affect the mental health of people. It’s time that people and societies come forward to discuss the much-ignored issue, which has engulfed society be it children, adolescents, adults or the old generation. A multi-stakeholder approach needs to be adopted to reduce the growing burden of mental health which stems from loneliness and other related issues.”