Invest in relationships – stay out of virtual world as much as possible

In the virtual world, such lonely souls will, in fact, drift further away from the real interaction which is a must for the healthy functioning of mind and body, she added.

The rise in internet and smartphone addiction among children is fast becoming a worrying trend for Indian parents.

“I recently came across 14-year-old Tanay who was admitted to the psychiatric ward at the hospital as he could not switch off his mobile and was addicted to the social media. He was treated for screen de-addiction or else he could have suffered a serious mental disorder,” Dr. Sandeep Govil, consultant (mental health and behavioural sciences) at Saroj Super Speciality Hospital in New Delhi, noted.

According to a global research, loneliness leads to fight-or-flight stress that can ultimately affect the production of white blood cells.

Essentially, lonely people had a less effective immune response and more inflammation than non-lonely people, a team from the University of Chicago and the University of California-Los Angeles found.

“The ‘danger signals’ activated in the brain by loneliness ultimately affect the production of white blood cells. The resulting shift may both propagate loneliness and contribute to its associated health risks,” the researchers noted in a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

According to Dr. Sameer Malhotra, director (mental health and behavioural sciences) at Max Super Specialty Hospital, loneliness can add to distress, can be associated with self neglect and can trigger a host of psychosomatic problems.

“Mind and body are closely intertwined through an array of neurochemicals, hormones and immune system. Stress associated with loneliness can lead to a host of physical problems. Unhealthy diet can also trigger physical problems,” Malhotra told.

If not tackled, loneliness can kill. “Loneliness can damage your mental and physical health condition. Medical research has proven the fact of association between poor mental condition and the rate of suicides. A disturbed mental condition increases the risk of suicide in such patients,” Dr. Govil stressed.