Anand Tiwari, Patna. The world of social media is making teenagers and youth the most unsocial. Forget about family and relatives, the reason behind the negative changes in nature has come to light is excessive attachment towards likes and comments. They are becoming so irritated by ever visiting them that they become enemies of their parents and their own family members and thoughts of suicide are rapidly developing. Doctors of the mental illness department of the city’s IGIMS found that the parents did not pay attention earlier, now when teenagers and youth get addicted to it, they want to get rid of it forcibly. The tendency to consider blood relations as enemies is growing in the mind and heart.
Considering the virtual world as real
Dr. Manish Mandal, Deputy Director of IGIMS, said that excessive fascination with social media is changing the mental state of teenagers and youth. Cases of such youth are coming to the psychiatry department of the institute. In the last six months, about 80 such youth are being counseled and made to leave the links of mobile social media. The good thing is that improvement was seen in more than half of the children. He told that it became clear in the counseling that he thinks that the more likes and comments you have, the further you will go. When it decreases, frustration increases.
Teenagers and youth aged 13 to 20
According to psychiatrist Dr. Saurabh Kumar, both teenagers and youth suffering from mobile addiction of social media are included. Most of the teenagers and youth aged between 12 to 20 years are coming to OPD. These include both boys and girls. During counselling, irritability and indifference towards family members is being seen in these children. There are many who do not even care about their health. There is no worry about hunger and thirst. There is no interest in finding out what is happening in the family and around.
case 1
The 16-year-old son of a mobile shopkeeper living in Bakarganj of the city remains active on social media for many hours. The family members are upset with his habit of posting every now and then. If someone stops him, he not only abuses his parents but also does not talk to them for many days.
case 2
The 12th class student was good in studies. But for the last six months he has been continuously lagging behind. Reason: Spending more time on social media. He has considered likes and comments as the guarantee of progress. The day he gets more likes, he looks happy. Kam starts fighting against himself. To get rid of mobile addiction, the family members are undergoing treatment at IGIMS.
What do experts say
In such a situation, if the habit of smartphone is not inculcated in children since childhood, then it will have a good impact in their later life and the young generation will also remain healthy. Because children are facing health problems like depression and anxiety due to using mobile for 3 hours every day. To avoid this, parents must pay attention to the activities of their children. Set a time limit for children’s use of social media. Also know about which things you are most curious.
-Dr. Ritu Ranjan, Human rights expert and social activist.