Loneliness and Mental Health Amongst Indians Working in Abu Dhabi, UAE

Abstract

The high prevalence of loneliness has been evidenced to be directly associated with the risk of acquiring mental health disorders such as anxiety, depression and even susceptibility to suicide ideation if not address with long term mitigation practices. The risk of loneliness and mental health disorders have been evidenced to be higher across individuals living away from their native homelands. The Indian population has been estimated to comprise of one of the largest communities of expatriates residing in the UAE. It has been postulated that expatriates, though living a seemingly prosperous life, often encounter a range of adverse circumstances such as, loneliness, occupational distress, and concerns on occupational security which in turn, pave the way for increase prevalence of mental illnesses such as depression, stress and anxiety. Thus, the followed research aimed to evaluate the prevalence of loneliness, state of mental health and the subsequent risk of mental health disorders across Indians working in Abu Dhabi, UAE. To address the same, a quantitative cross-sectional design, coupled with data collection on demographics, mental health and social functioning were collected, using self-reported questions such as the General Health Functioning-28 and Social Functioning Questionnaire. Based on such findings, the sample was found to be equally distributed with respect to their risk of mental health illnesses and high level of social functioning, possibly due to equal inclusion of both participants who were living alone as well as not living alone. Additionally, the equal distribution of such risk as well as high levels of social functioning may also be attributed to demographic factors like age, education and occupational levels. There is thus a need to conduct further research on the role of specific demographic factors in influencing mental health status and social functioning across Indian expatriates residing in the UAE.