Struggling To Cope With Loneliness? This IFS Officer's Tips Will Help You

One might see loneliness as a regular state of affairs in the urban world, but new research on the topic proves that social isolation has a negative impact on one’s health. Recently an Indian Forest Service officer opened up about dealing with loneliness and shared some tips that helped him cope with it over the years. In a series of posts, IFS Himanshu Tyagi mentioned that he spent many years alone and away from home as prepared for JEE for a year, studied at an IIT for four years, and worked for six years at his previous job. He said that those suffering from loneliness should be their own “close friend” and find solace in activities like taking long walks in nature that will make one enjoy their own company.

He also sweared by journaling as writing one’s worries and thoughts helps find clarity. Tyagi added, “Give time to relationships where you can share all your worries without being judged. Your parents, siblings. A phone call is enough to solve your worries.” He also suggested pursuing spirituality and wrote, “Develop some mechanism to remain connected to God all the time. Express gratitude to him for everything. You won’t feel lonely.”

This post went viral with over seven lakh views and over 5,000 likes. Commenting on it, an X user wrote, “The problem is..when you are isolated for so long and you start loving your own company then it becomes hard to interact with people. You don’t wanna attend family functions or parties. It even becomes harder to get married because we get so comfortable with loneliness.”

Another wrote, “I think we should have a hobby to get away from all these “LONELINESS” ideas. I started to devote some time to music like playing flute/harmonium & singing by myself for the last few years. Doing a job is an endless thing but something shd be for ourselves. Feel energetic & confident.”

Someone equated loneliness with freedom and wrote, “I call it freedom, instead of loneliness. I’ve been committed as well but after a certain stage you start realising that being alone makes you much more efficient and productive, especially when you have some kind of job/ passion/ hobbies.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) sees loneliness as a global public health concern. As per a 2023 report headed by Dr Vivek Hallegere Murthy, the United States Surgeon General, loneliness’s impact on the body is “similar to that caused by smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day.”