There have never been as many humans on Earth as there are now, but people have felt never felt as alone. In the age of Tinder, Facebook and Instagram and despite being surrounded in the hustle-bustle of cities, more people feel lonely and suffer from depression than ever before.
So, in order to deal with the sad state of affairs, UK has appointed a Minister for Loneliness. While appointing Tracey Crouch, Prime Minister Theresa May described loneliness as “the sad reality of modern life” affecting millions of people.
May further added,
“I want to confront this challenge for our society and for all of us to take action to address the loneliness endured by the elderly, by carers, by those who have lost loved ones — people who have no one to talk to or share their thoughts and experiences with.”
According to the British Red Cross, more than nine million people out of a population of 65.6 million, say they are always or often lonely. While in India, the stats may be much higher.
While talking to India Today, social psychologist Ashis Nandy said,
“The more cluttered our lives are with work, information, entertainment, technology and other trappings of worldly success, the less we have room for authentic intimacy, sharing of life’s challenges with those who really care.”
“It’s about urban loneliness,” he further added.
Surprisingly, India has a networking site dedicated to just that — SharingDard.com, wherein the people talk about issued and share their heart out. Formed by a group of IIT students, the website search results showed that “I am lonely” phrase was searched 46,000 times a day on an average in the country!
Also, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) report in 2017, over five crore Indians suffer from depression and over three crore others suffer from anxiety disorders.
However, India has Ministry of Health and Family Affair to manage the wellbeing of the citizens of the country.
