Whether we take cognizance of it or not, loneliness exists and it’s magnifying at a rapid pace. The use of technology which promised to bring us closer to our loved ones has actually enhanced our distance. People use their mobile phones while talking to each other, eating together with family or even getting intimate with their partners. Yes, that’s how addictive it is.
Now, I am a huge fan of technology and I believe that if used wisely, it can really contribute to our well being. But, I believe, the owners of these glorified companies are not interested in making our lives better but are only inquisitive in finding ways to make more profit. And their profit depends on the time we spend using their gadgets. So it is we who will have to be smart while using smartphones.
But technology is not the only reason why people are feeling lonely and depressed; it depends on the circumstances of an individual, about why they feel lonely. What I have found is that people feel lonely because of the events and situations they don’t have under control.
People feel lonely, anxious and depressed by thinking how other people feel ‘above’ them. They dress, put on makeup or workout not because it makes them feel good or confident but because they want to see themselves glorified and beautiful in everyone’s eyes. And that might be one of the reasons why women are more depressed than men. Because women naturally pay a lot more attention to how they look than men and beauty and fashion companies know this psychology. And they plan accordingly, on how to first make you feel unworthy and ashamed, and then sell you their cosmetics. Every woman is beautiful but these multimillion-dollar companies just do not want you to know that.
How Education Could Help Reduce Loneliness
In my opinion, the biggest culprit for the enhancement of depression and loneliness is lack of quality education; because I am a firm believer that you can only believe and think what you know. If you do not know something then it is impossible for you to comprehend it when you face it. Our education system teaches us what the problem is, for example, they tell us what global warming is! But they don’t really elaborate on how to solve this problem of global warming. Or just like that, the short stories in our English books or movies and TV shows, show us what it is like to be in love but they don’t teach us how to deal if a relationship does not work out.
And when we face unfamiliar circumstances, guess what happens? We become sad, anxious and depressed. And then movies and TV shows tell us ‘that if you feel sad, lonely and depressed you need to visit a bar, get your self drunk every day and get a lap dance’. They have very smartly manipulated the mind of the youth. And we become its victims because we lack quality and practical education.
Sometimes, anxiety and loneliness are genetic and we need to train ourselves to fight them. But, many people are drowned in it because they are faced by circumstances they don’t know how to deal with. And especially in our society, which believes that depression does not exist; it is even more dangerous, and I think that is the reason why India is number 1 in suicides among the young. And many of us who know that this problem is real, have no specific solution yet.