Psychiatrists in the city are witnessing an alarming increase in social media addiction among teens and young adults, which they aver is set for rise as internet access improves.
There are no definitions for obsessive social media use through usage time but psychiatrists agree that use patterns accompanied by dependence and increasing indulgence, warrants attention. Unlike substance abuse, which is mainly restricted to youth of affluent families, social media addiction is not, they say.
“Insomnia, relationship problems, anxiety, depression and poor academic performance are consequences as well as symptoms of the problem,” said Dr. Minaj Naseerabadi, a psychiatrist with Apollo Hospitals whose patients are as young as 12.
An analysis of several studies published earlier this year in an article in the Journal of Indian Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health pointed out that the problem was significant as India’s young were spending increasing amounts of time on social networking websites.
According to a report published last year by the Internet and Mobile Association of Indian (IMAI) and IMRB International, there were 143 million social media users in India until about a year ago.
Psychiatrists, who reported seeing at least 10 instances of social media addiction a week, say the addicted are anxious about missing updates in their social circles and tend to stay awake past midnight to check their accounts on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Whatsapp.
Peer pressure
“They want to be seen online 24x7 which is considered cool. Peer pressure forces them to seek knowledge about outside world at the cost of their daily life,” says Dr. Sujatha Rajamani, a consultant at KIMS.
“They crave for attention from peers and seek validation when they frequently post images and selfies.”
Mental health professionals also agree that the amount of time spent on social media determines the extent of addiction and related behavioural changes.
In severe cases of addiction, patients report spending 8 to 10 hours posting images, liking posts, tweeting or sharing content. The behavioural deviations among such patients are extreme.
“In one instance, a youngster would not allow his parents into his room. Only once a day did he hand out his plate from behind the door for food, after ranging a bell to draw his family’s attention. The worried parents were cut off from his world,” says Dr. Praveen Kumar, an Apollo consultant who also runs psychiatry hospital, Tranquil Minds.
Dr. Kumar also said that incidence of sexual promiscuity and drug abuse is high among young social media addicts. His observation is gender neutral, though not causal.
Treatment approaches vary but experts agree that total abstinence from social media use is recommended. Other problems like anxiety and depression may warrant medication.
