Social media Addiction, a ticking time bomb

While alcohol and drug addiction might rank near the top when it comes to afflictions that many youngsters struggle with, it seems social media addiction is now inching closer to becoming a clear and present health risk. According to psychologists from the State, there is a clear trend of an increased number of inquiries from the kin of people, addicted specifically to various social media platforms – Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok. Even instant messengers like WhatsApp and mobile games like PUB-G have also gone on to fuel a mini hysteria of sorts, culminating with deadly results in some cases.

In June this year, a 24-year-old woman from Ariyalur killed herself after being admonished for spending too much time on TikTok. The mother of two had recorded a video where she consumed pesticide and asked her husband to look after their children. More recently, a 21-year-old man from Belgavi, Karnataka, killed his father after he was rebuked for being fixated with video games. While these instances might be few and far between, experts believe there might be a crisis around the corner.

R Manoj, a clinical psychologist based out of Chennai, said that smartphone addiction has become prevalent among children in the age group of 8-13. “It is being perceived as a major problem at this point in time. Once children cross over to the teens, parents think they do not have adequate control over them. Primarily, young children are getting fixated with the use of mobile phones and their guardians are finding it increasingly hard to establish control mechanisms. Other behavioural issues are also beginning to come to the fore when any notion of control is imposed, and those might be even more deep seated problems.”

With respect to young adults, the usage is pretty much the way it was a few years ago. Socio economically, what has simultaneously emerged is a sort of democratisation when it comes to access of social media on smartphones. Thanks to apps like TikTok, you see social media usage permeating into various strata of society.

For those who have found themselves in the vice-like grip of the infinite scroll, the descent into obsessive behaviour was barely noticeable at first. Krishna Acharya, a post production technician, who found himself veering close to an unhealthy obsession with PUB-G said, “Thanks to my erratic work timings, I had developed a highly sedentary lifestyle which involved returning from work, hogging on junk food and then settling down for all-night sessions of PUB-G. At first, it didn’t even occur to me that I was headed for trouble.”

Subsequently, Acharya started putting on a ridiculous amount of weight and his sleep pattern had taken a beating. “Soon enough, I realised that I was growing irritable at my workplace, picking arguments with my colleagues and friends, and skipping social engagements altogether, just so I could reach home on time and get back to gaming. I knew I had hit rock bottom the day I passed out on my workstation in the middle of a project. It was sheer exhaustion and sleeplessness that had caused my meltdown,” he confessed.

Although it might seem like it is the cause that is troubling, and not the classification, mental health professionals are now beginning to realise the gravity of the situation. India’s first internet de-addiction centre run by the National Institute of Mental Health and Sciences (NIMHANS) was set up in Bengaluru. As per a study conducted by the institute, around 73% of teenagers in urban India were hit by “psychiatric distress,” and the excessive use of technology was cited as one of the reasons.

Similarly, in New Delhi, an internet de-addiction centre has been set up by the Uday Foundation. Closer home in Madurai, there is the Spark Deaddiction and Psychiatric Care facility, which has now started accepting cases concerning social media and smartphone addiction in the State.

S Karthikeyan, Director and Psychologist, who handles this unit at the centre tells us that over the past one year, a number of enquiries concerning smartphone/social media addiction have landed on their board lines. And a big segment of these calls come from people living in and around Madurai and small towns in Tamil Nadu. However, the conversion rate from inquirer to therapy seeker is quite limited as Karthikeyan tells us, “Over the past three years, we have had just about seven people who have opted for therapy for social media addiction, and now they are fully rehabilitated.”

On the other end of the spectrum, urban and upwardly mobile Indians are developing newer forms of anxiety pertaining to smartphone use. Psychologist Manoj explained this as, “A free-flowing anxiety has also become common place among office goers, who cannot stop themselves from handling their smartphones, even if there are no push notifications to speak of. Now, people don’t come to us with specific issues of being addicted to their devices. Instead, we are finding that one in two familial, parental and marital issues are linked in one way or the other to excessive usage of mobile phones, social media and various diversionary tactics.”

He added that mobile gaming forms a very small percentage of this affliction and is more prevalent among young children. “We try engaging those affected with more interpersonal relations as part of therapy, where they are made to realise how these devices or platforms have played a significant role in a certain discord. Systematic therapeutic intervention – works on behaviours, attitudes and face to face communication is encouraged in such cases,” he adds.

However, there are also those who believe a big chunk of the narrative of social media addiction is nothing but technological fearmongering.

Dr Pradeep, MD, DPM, Consultant Psychiatrist, who is an assistant professor with Tagore Medical College, said, “There is no way that one can neglect this as a problem. The intensity of this issue varies from person to person. And one cannot generalise one symptom to everyone else. Right now, the problem has not risen to a quantum that would qualify it as a disorder. Psychologically, discords happen due to various causes – could be anything from family to finance to one’s workplace dynamics. And usually when communication ceases, people tend to turn to an escape mechanism – a social media platform for instance. Basically, the idea is to not confront the problem at hand and use some distraction or such activity to stay in denial. We just assign the blame on social media, it being the conduit for deeper personality mismanagement or maladjustment issues.”

Pradeep explained, “I wouldn’t go so far as to call this an addiction. But just consider historically – when the television was first introduced, people called it the Zombie Box. It was fear mongering on a very simplified level. The gestation period of TV might have been close to two decades or more. In the case of India, this development period for social media has been a fraction of that, considering it was cheap mobile data that helped this level of penetration. It’s a real irony when you consider that the affinity for alcohol and cigarettes is so much higher than anything to do with social media. And collectively, the two have a more significant and damaging impact. Every once in while during conferences, the topic of selfie addicts does come up, more because of it being a rarity. The psychiatric associations don’t even recognise gaming addiction as a disorder. In my opinion, it falls upon the user to make an informed choice when it comes to consuming digital data.”