The cut-throat price war among major telcos and resulting cheaper internet services has only accentuated internet addiction among school children with ‘internet addiction disorder’ showing a considerable spike in the out-patient department (OPD) of Psychiatry department at the KGMU.
Typical symptoms of ‘internet addiction disorder’ include irritability, insomnia, anxiety, depression and headache. The disorder not only affects one’s health but touches behavioural aspects too.
A resident of Alambagh Railway Colony, 17-year-old Abhijit ( name changed) was studious and had a good academic record till class 8 when his father got him a smart phone. Gradually, he began to spend more time on gaming websites, social media sites like Facebook and WhatsApp. Strict warnings of his father could not mend his ways and soon his friend list crossed a whopping 1000 mark. The situation turned grim when he started staying at home rather than attending school. What is more, he stopped taking bath and busied himself in laptop and phone for more than 12 hours a day, augmenting irritability in his behaviour. This compelled his parents to take him to a Psychiatrist. This is just one of the numerous cases coming to the KGMU OPD on a daily basis.
Another pattern of cases in KGMU is youngsters taking to social media to vent their fury after emotional turmoil. Sonam (name changed) was an engineering student and stayed in a hostel when she broke up with her boyfriend. To overcome feelings of condescension and keep herself engaged, she made numerous friends on Facebook and began chatting with them. Her habits shaped into addiction and she could not stay away from her smartphone eeven for a minute. She would become restive without her phone and could stay online on internet for more than seven hours a day.
“In just over three years, such cases of addiction have increased rapidly. Earlier only 7-8 such cases were reported in the OPD. But the number has gone up steeply. These days 4-6 patients come to get consultation in OPD on a daily basis. Mostly youth and children are the patients of this disorder. Patients with internet addiction lose their focus drastically,” says Prof Adarsh Tripathi of Psychiatry department at King George’s Medical University.
Dr Tripathi suggested that children be given training in ‘gadget hygiene’ so they do not become addict to smart phone or internet. “Parents should use parental controls when their child use social media and restrict their online time on networking and gaming sites as also on television. If a child makes use of internet for studies, parents should supervise,” the Pscyhiatrist asserted.
Internet addiction, on the one hand, affects the psyche, and on the other casts a bad impact on other organs like eye, ear and even spine. “Radiating electromagnetic waves from a phone damages nerves in the ear that hampers listening capacity,” former ENT specialist at Balrampur Hospital Dr SC Srivastava said, adding that one should prefer to talk for longer duration over speaker only.
Moreover, the impact of using smart phone or computer especially in darker surrounding, leads to fatigue and dryness in eyes. “Watching TV or using phone or computer in dark severely affects eyesight. As a safeguard, one should hold the phone below eye line while ensuring sufficient moisture in eyes by keeping the eye lashes moving,” Ophthalmologist at RMl Hospital Dr KP Singh said.
Besides, Head of Spine Injury unit at KGMU, Prof RN Srivastava stressed on maintaining adequate posture while using phone. “Continuous talking on phone with tilted neck generates posture deformity and leads to Spondylosis and back pain. If necessary, one can either use ear phone or speaker or avoid talking on phone while driving and working,” he opined.