Sonu Sood raises alarm over India’s loneliness crisis: ‘Bigger issue than most realise’

Loneliness is becoming one of the biggest mental health challenges of our time, especially among young adults. While today’s generation is more digitally connected than ever before, many people are experiencing fewer deep, meaningful relationships.

Dr Rimpa Sarkar, clinical psychologist and founder of Sentier Wellness, Mumbai, explains that this is happening because social connection is not measured by the number of followers or messages we receive, but by the quality of emotional support and the feeling of being understood.

Sonu Sood’s Instagram story.

What’s behind this crisis?

Several factors are contributing to this growing loneliness crisis. Dr Sarkar explains a few of them:

“Young people are spending more time online, relocating frequently for education and work, working remotely, and navigating relationships in an increasingly fast paced and uncertain world. While social media creates the illusion of connection, it often replaces meaningful interaction with passive engagement,” she tells indianexpress.com.

People may know what hundreds of others are doing every day, yet still feel that no one truly knows them.

According to her, there is also increasing pressure to appear successful, productive, and happy. This can make it difficult for young people to admit they are lonely or struggling emotionally. “Ironically, the more we compare our lives to carefully curated versions of others, the more isolated we may begin to feel,” says Dr Sarkar.

From a psychological perspective, she also elaborates that chronic loneliness is not just an emotional experience. It is associated with “increased stress, anxiety, depression, sleep disturbances, lower self esteem, and even poorer physical health”.

This is because human beings are biologically wired for meaningful social connection, and emotional belonging is a fundamental psychological need.

What can we do?

Dr Sarkar believes a common misconception is that loneliness only affects people who are alone. In reality, someone can be surrounded by people and still feel profoundly lonely if they do not experience emotional connection. “The solution is therefore not simply increasing social contact, but building relationships where people feel safe, accepted, and genuinely understood,” she shares.

And to avoid these pitfalls, she suggests young people need to become intentional about building real relationships.

“This means investing time in face to face interactions, nurturing a few close friendships rather than chasing large social circles, participating in communities with shared interests, and learning to have honest conversations about emotions,” she recommends.

In fact, she adds that it is equally important to create healthy boundaries with social media.“Remember that online interaction should complement, not replace, real world relationships,” she warns.