A 2024 survey found 67 percent of urban Indians felt tired most of the time despite 7 hours of sleep, as constant digital multitasking keeps the brain in a state of hypervigilance
Published Jul 11, 2025 | 7:00 AM ⚊ Updated Jul 11, 2025 | 7:00 AM
Synopsis: A growing number of people — from students to professionals — are reporting a persistent, ambient fatigue that isn’t tied to physical exhaustion or burnout. Neurologist Dr Sudhir Kumar confirms an uptick in such cases, noting it affects individuals across age groups. This mental weariness, likened to being on “airplane mode,” is becoming a silent, widespread struggle
A rising number of people across age groups and professions are reporting an unshakeable sense of fatigue, even when there’s no clear reason. “It’s not physical tiredness,” says 29-year-old Shilpa Ram, a design consultant. “It’s like your brain is on airplane mode, just floating through tasks,”
This growing emotional and mental weariness isn’t limited to corporate workers. College students, homemakers, freelancers, healthcare workers — everyone seems to be running on low battery. And unlike burnout, which comes after prolonged stress, this kind of fatigue feels ambient — always there, like background noise.
Speaking to South First, Dr Sudhir Kumar, consultant neurologist from Apollo Hospitals in Hyderabad agrees that there has been an increase in patients coming in with these complaints. He says, “Yes, feeling overwhelmed and persistently tired without a clear cause is increasingly common. Many people report experiencing these sensations even when they cannot pinpoint a specific reason. THis trend has become more noticeable in recent years, affecting people across age and backgrounds.”
Mental health experts are calling it “ambient overwhelm” — a term borrowed from trauma psychology but now finding resonance in everyday life.
“This is not traditional burnout where there’s a cause-effect chain. This is more insidious,” say mental health experts. “People are functioning, but they’re not feeling alive,” says Dr Ashwini MV, Founder Mukta Counselling
The causes, experts says, are multilayered.
From financial insecurity and rising costs of living to constant social media comparisons, people today are absorbing stress without realising it.
Dr Alok Kulkarni, Senior consultant and interventional psychiatrist at Manas Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences in Hubballi told South First, “people are overwhelmed and tired for a mix of reasons, rooted in modern life’s structure and pressures,”
He explains, that people are stuck in a loop where rest itself feels unproductive. He says, “Information overload from constant digital noise–social media, notification, news cycles–floods the brain, spiking stress and fragmenting attention.”
Studies show excessive screen time (averaging 7-10 hours daily for many) disrupts dopamine regulation, making it harder to feel engaged or motivated.
Vignesh V, a 34-year-old startup manager in Bengaluru, says he hasn’t felt truly rested in years. “There’s no crisis in my life. But I still feel like I’m always bracing for something. I meditate, go to therapy, but the dull ache doesn’t go.”
A 2024 survey by the Centre for Urban Mental Health in India found that 67 percent of respondents across five major metros said they felt tired ‘most of the time’ — despite sleeping an average of 7 hours per night.
This persistent sense of fatigue, experts say, is worsened by the emotional fragmentation of modern life. Constant context switching — between emails, news updates, family messages, Instagram — forces the brain into a hypervigilant state.
Agreeing to this Dr Ashwini says, “I observe that excessive digital use–marked by constant multitasking, screen exposure, and hyperconnectivity can significantly contribute to symptoms resembling Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS),”
She says, cognitive overstimulation drains mental resources, while blue light disrupts circadian rhythms, impairing sleep quality. Prolonged screen time also reduces physical activity, weakening the body’s stamina and leading to persistent fatigue.
Dr Ashwini argues that digital overuse heightens stress by blurring work-life boundaries and creating information overload. “THis can dystregulate the stress-response system, fuelling emotional exhaustion.”
Even in a crowd, many say they feel alone. And that, according to psychiatrists, may be the heaviest burden. Dr Kulkarni explains that the culture of working remotely that has started from the days of the COVID pandemic is not helping either. “People are always on 24/7 plugged into their screens checking their inboxes.”
He says, social disconnection plays a big role too. Loneliness has been rising as a consequence of isolation and weakened community ties.
“In India, we come from community-oriented cultures,” says psychiatrist Dr Ashwini. “But urban life has eroded that support system. People have 500 WhatsApp groups but no one to call when they break down.”
She adds, “The mind may be overstimulated, but the heart is undernourished.”
Reduced face-to-face interaction increases isolation, a factor known to worsen fatigue. While not a direct cause,Dr Ashwini says, digital overuse can certainly intensify or prolong CFS like symptoms and warrants psychological intervention.
Agrees Dr Kulkarni he says, social disconnection plays a big role. “Loneliness has been rising as a consequence of isolation and weakened community ties. Humans are wired for connection, and without it, emotional fatigue sets in–mirror neurons don’t fire as they should, dulling empathy and presence.”
Adding to this is the mental load of decision fatigue, says Dr Kulkarni. He says one makes 35,000 choices daily and existential noise–climate anxiety, political polarisation , you name it. It’s a recipe for feeling unmoored, he adds.
Physiologically, experts say, poor sleep, processed diets, and sedentary habits drain energy. “Cortisol spikes from stress don’t reset properly without rest or movement. People aren’t just tired–they are stuck in a cycle where the brain and body can’t recharge and meaning feels out of reach because the systems we live demand constant output without space for reflection or connection,” added Dr Kulkarni.
Dr Thejaswini J, Consultant Obsterician and Gynecologist at Motherhood Hospitals says “women especially who come with this emotionally overwhelming feeling are most of the times deficient of Vitamin D, B12. Women are expected to multi task and be perfect. Expectations from women and about themselves has gone up, so when expectation doesn’t meet reality this can happen. There is no obvious trigger as such but there is also premenopausal hormonal changes in women that also we need to rule out.”
Dr Sudhir adds fatigue can also be a symptom of various medical issues, such as thyroid disorders, anemia, diabetes, or chronic fatigue syndrome. “If lifestyle changes do not help, a medical check-up is recommended.”
Dr Sudhir says, when stressors accumulate or become chronic, the brain may lose the ability to identify specific causes, resulting in a general sense of tiredness or overwhelm that feels disconnect from any one thing.
He says, anxiety and depression often manifest as persistent tiredness and a sense of being overwhelmed, even without obvious triggers. Chronic stress keeps the body in a heightened state of alertness, eventually leading to a burnout or disconnection.
Meanwhile constant exposure to news, social media, and digital communication can overwhelm the mind, making it hard to process and connect to anything meaningful.
India’s workplaces, already facing a mental health reckoning, may see long-term impacts of this quiet exhaustion. “We’re not losing people to burnout overnight,” says a HR consultant “We’re losing them slowly — to detachment, disengagement, and quiet quitting.”
Perhaps the biggest clue is in what people are not saying. As Shilpa puts it, “I’m not in a crisis. But I don’t feel okay either. And that in-between space is scarier than it sounds.”
This form of exhaustion isn’t solved by just vacations or longer sleep. Experts suggest small, consistent practices:
Pause and breathe: Slow, deep breathing calms the nervous system and reduces immediate feelings of overwhelm.
Set boundaries: Learn to say no and delegate tasks when possible to lighten your load.
Prioritise sleep: Maintain a regular sleep schedule and create a restful environment.
Break taste down: Divide big taks into smaller, manageable steps to avoid feeling swamped.
Talk about it: Share your feelings with friends, family or a professional to gain perspective and support.
Limit news and doom scrolling.
Build a “no productivity” zone in your day.
Spend time with people where no explanations are needed.
Replace “What did you do today?” with “How are you really feeling?”
Dr Ashwini also warns against the pressure to be “fine” all the time. “It’s okay to say, ‘I don’t know why I’m tired.’ That’s a start.”
(Edited by Ananya Rao)
