Page 14 - Seniorstoday November 2023 Issue

Mind Matters

Facing Loneliness &

Dealing with It

Senior psychologist Dr Monika M Dass starts a column dedicated to the all-
encompassing wellbeing of our senior community

Baghban has turned twenty! That film has
been our glycerine standard when it comes
to depicting ageing in a popular culture. In
that five-handkerchief weepie, Amitabh
Bachchan and Hema Malini are the senior
citizens, growing old and lonely in a new
India, not allowed to live together, passed
back and forth by their ungrateful children.
A greying India needs old age homes of the
best kind, elder-friendly devices, affordable
healthcare, and daycare centres. But more Main factors contributing to this sad state
than anything else, it needs us all to bridge of affairs is, becoming widowed, isolation
the loneliness gap. from family, dealing with technology,
India not only has the second largest global retirement from work, lack of engaging
ageing population, but it also stands third activities, limited mobility and lack of
amongst the countries with the highest rate socialization. 5.7% of senior citizens in India
of loneliness in older adults, according to a live alone, without the support of family
global survey. A study by PAN Healthcare or friends. It was also found that older
found that over 64% of the elderly in India women were more likely to be experiencing
suffer from loneliness, with this condition loneliness than older men, even within
being worse in urban regions. active households.

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