25/05/2025

ON SUNDAY MAY 25, 2025 II theSunday Special

More connected than ever, yet lonelier too. Sometimes, the scroll replaces the soul.

Health consequences The cost of disconnection isn’t merely emotional – it’s physiological. “Social isolation has been consistently linked to a wide range of adverse out comes. It can affect both physical and mental health, including cardiovascular health, as well as career progression and occupational functioning. “Research has shown a strong connec tion between social isolation and poor health outcomes, including depression, heart disease and even early death. A 2017 review led by public health researcher Leigh-Hunt et al. highlighted these links DQG PRUH UHFHQW ¿QGLQJV SXEOLVKHG LQ 2024 by psychologist Bryan et al. rein IRUFHG WKH ORQJ WHUP H̆ HFWV RI FKURQLF loneliness. “One of our most basic psychological needs is relatedness – the need to connect, to care for others and to feel cared for. When this need goes unmet, particularly in the context of urban living, we often see those consequences play out in very tan gible and harmful ways,” Chua explains. In Malaysia’s urban centres, where ORQJ ZRUNLQJ KRXUV WUḊ F FRQJHVWLRQ DQG digital distractions dominate daily life, ¿QGLQJ WLPH WR QRXULVK UHODWLRQVKLSV FDQ feel like another item on the to-do list. But the cost of not prioritising connection may be far greater than most realise. The social media trap Ironically, the tools designed to connect us often deepen the sense of disconnection. It’s tempting to think that social media FDQ ¿OO WKH JDS ± DIWHU DOO ZH QRZ KDYH more ways to “connect” than ever. But the digital lifeline may also be part of the problem. “When people turn to social media as a way to cope with loneliness, it often leads to problematic patterns of use. A study by O’Day & Heimberg (2021) found that those who use social media to compensate for loneliness are more likely to become dependent on it,” Chua said. This type of dependency, known as problematic social media use, is marked by excessive, compulsive or emotionally driven scrolling. Loneliness can lead to unhealthy social media habits, which in turn deepen feelings of loneliness. That means it’s not necessarily social media itself that’s the problem, but how it’s being used, particularly when it becomes a replacement for real-world connections.

The sensation is familiar to many living in city environments: quiet walks through crowded malls, elevator rides where no one makes eye contact and the relentless scroll through curated digital lives that leave you feeling oddly empty. Yet, urban isolation isn’t widely acknowledged, let alone understood. It’s less visible than poverty, less dramatic than crime, but arguably just as damaging when allowed to fester unchecked. Little data, growing issue “There’s surprisingly little research on how widespread urban isolation is among working adults and young professionals in Malaysia,” Chua notes. “One study by the Institute for Youth Research found that over 70% of young people aged between 15 and 30 said they could rely on friends and talk to family when facing problems. While that’s en couraging, it doesn’t tell us how frequently they’re connecting with others.” Therein lies the disconnect. People can surround you, even have access to emotional support, but still experience a persistent sense of loneliness. According to a Meta-Gallup poll that surveyed adults in over 140 countries, around 14% of adults in Malaysia reported feeling lonely. It’s not an epidemic in the dramatic, alarmist sense, but it is real and growing.

Alone together in the city Urban isolation isn’t widely acknowledged, let alone understood.

It’s not just in your head. Urban loneliness is real, growing and more common than most are willing to admit I N an age when everything from groceries to therapy is just a tap away, one thing remains stubbornly elusive for many urban dwellers – a genuine sense of connection.

BY SIMON VELLA

As Malaysia urbanises rapidly and more of its population moves into high rise apartments, high-pressure work environments and hyper-digital lifestyles, emotional isolation is quietly on the rise. It creeps in slowly – a missed birthday call, a lunch cancelled, a weekend that blurs into solitude. You may not even realise it’s loneliness until it’s already set in. What is urban isolation? “Urban isolation is not just about being alone, it’s about feeling alone despite being around people,” says Dr Chua Sook Ning, clinical psychologist and founder RI 5HODWH 0DOD\VLD D QRQ SUR¿W RUJDQ isation dedicated to improving mental health awareness, providing accessible psychological support and promoting evidence-based practices in Malaysia.

Research has shown a strong connection between social isolation and poor health outcomes, including depression and heart disease.”

Chua, founder of Relate Malaysia