99% Bengalureans combat stress, loneliness with 'real relationships': Survey

Bengaluru: Besides human and economic crisis, the coronavirus disease has also resulted in a social crisis. Social isolation is attacking societies at their core resulting in loneliness and anxiety.

MyGate conducted a national 'Trust Circle' survey to understand the impact of these changes on the 'Trust Circle' of an individual. Almost 99% of Bengalureans acknowledged the need to build real relationships (inter-personal connect) to combat stress and anxiety while only 60% in Chennai and 74.55% in Kochi felt the same.

The psychological impact has been devastating across age groups nationally (over 80%), however, it has highly affected Gen Z (90%) and women (90%) more. Interestingly, 80.65% Bengalureans now are more likely to be dependent on their neighbours as their immediate 'Trust Circle' as compared to pre-Covid times and 98.79% acknowledged that their relationship and dependence on neighbours, the local vendors and support staff (watchman, delivery boy, and maids) improved in this phase. 90.73% respondents in Bangalore affirmed the statement 'My Trust Circle' has shifted to include people in my neighborhood whom I am likely to interact with every day'.

Commenting about the report, Abhishek Kumar, COO and Co-founder, MyGate, said, "We all are surviving through tough times and the importance of 'Trust Circle' and 'Real Relationships' has come to the forefront like any time before. It is surprising to note that almost 100% of the highly tech savvy and socially inclined / connected Bengalureans felt the need of 'Real Relationships' to combat stress more than their southern counterparts in Chennai (59.44%) and Kochi (74.55%) or even East (Kolkata 73.39%). As many as 90.73% respondents in Bangalore acknowledged improved connect and dependability on neighbourhood, clearly defining what they are going through and the changing preferences. Gladly technology came to rescue, be it to stay connected, address community requirements, help the larger circle in need and solutions like MyGate evolved and became more relevant than ever before."

Deep diving further, the report also highlighted that the neighborhood people ranked the highest in preference list (40%) as compared to technology (22.18%), relatives (18.95%) and close friends (16.94%) for any help or information locally. Unlike other south cities like Chennai and Hyderabad who are more inclined towards close friends and relatives, metropolis residents of Bengaluru also ranked neighborhood people as number one preference (30.45%) for a comfortable shift to a new society followed by close friends (25%). As the world marks 200 million cases of corona cases and over 4.26 million deaths of people from coworkers to friends and families, Indian inching towards the third wave, importance of staying connected together has become even more critical.

An in-depth research, MyGate Trust Circle has covered 2,867 Indians of all ages from across Tier-1 and Tier -2 cities, namely Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune. The study is an attempt from MyGate to understand the impact of the pandemic on people's attitude towards their immediate surroundings.