Spending too much time on social media? Tech abuse may lead to mental health issues

Technology is a boon, no doubt. But where can we, in our digital lives, draw the line between convenience and addiction? ET’s Divya J Shekhar finds out how the IT city is dealing with internet addiction and how collective social effort might help find the sweet spot.

Fifty-odd residents in Hebbal switched off all their digital devices between 7 and 9 pm two days ago on World Mental Health Day. This Saturday, they will join other members in their 1,200-strong group to plug out once again. They plan to make this a weekly ritual.

At the centre of this initiative, which is called 'Time Out from Plugins', is a mother who started researching on technology addiction after observing her 16-year-old son play online games for long hours. Tejaswi Uthappa, a freelance writer, said that her otherwise well-behaved son becoming irritable and snappy after being glued to the gaming console for hours got her thinking about the ill-effects of letting technology take over our lives.

“As parents, we might casually complain about our children spending most of their time on television, digital games or laptops. But this is actually far more serious because it impacts their brain, and eventually, their behaviour,” said Uthappa, who now wants to reach out to schools and colleges to help create awareness about technology-addiction among youngsters.

An increasing number of Bengalureans are getting addicted to technology. Just last week, a 26-year-old checked in to the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (Nimhans) to seek treatment as he had watched Netflix for over seven hours a day for the past six months in order to escape the reality of his unemployment. From excessive PUBG (online game) and social media overdose to need for virtual validation and incessant online shopping, psychiatrists are treating a gamut of technology addictions.

THANK GOD IT’S FRIDAY

HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH?
According to experts at Nimhans, eight out of 10 technology addiction cases are related to online gaming. This is in line with a 2013 survey conducted by the Indian Council for Medical Research in Bengaluru, which revealed that 4.1% people in the IT city between 18 and 60 years of age were addicted to their mobile phones, while 1.3% were internet addicts. This number might have increased with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) stating that as on March 2018, there were 1.18 billion wireless subscribers and 493 million internet or broadband subscribers in the country.


Manoj Kumar Sharma, a clinical psychologist at the Service for Healthy Use of Technology (SHUT) Clinic at Nimhans, said that he caters to almost six-seven patients every week, up from two-three people who checked into the clinic when it launched in 2014.

“It goes to show that people are conscious and are actively taking action to correct their addictive tendencies,” he said. Most people between ages 16 and 20 are addicted to social media, Sharma explained, tend to develop body image issues if their online activity or post does not garner enough attention or ‘likes’. This need for validation from virtual friends to make up for their lonely reality is also directly proportional to the number of cosmetic surgeries.

For those between 24 and 28 years of age, the addiction is usually in the form of pornography or online streaming platforms like Netflix. Experts have also coined the term ‘online infidelity’ to describe a condition where adults satisfy themselves using online platforms rather than through physical intimacy with their respective partners.

“There is a bidirectional relationship between depression and use of technology. The latter can be used as a coping mechanism for stress and anxiety. Conversely, technology abuse can also intensify depression,” said Sharma.

Medical professionals state that ideally, an individual’s daily social media consumption should be broken down to brief 20 minute sessions. “When a digital screen is the last thing you look at before going to sleep, it messes with your hormones. For instance, the heart and pulse rate increase, blood pressure for those with hypertension tends to increase and the body’s response to diabetes medication will vary,” said consulting physician and cardiologist Dr B Ramana Rao.

Increased exposure to technology, he explained, affects eyesight, causes mood alterations, and makes individuals angry and irritable. There are four main criteria, experts said, through which addiction can be determined: if use of technology affects your sleep, productivity, interpersonal relationships and makes you isolate yourself from social activities.


OPEN COMMUNICATION
Parents, counsellors, schools and colleges are recognising the need to work together to find solutions and disconnect those vulnerable to internet overuse. Mansoor Ali Khan, member, board of management, Delhi Public School, said that while schools are often considered “uncool” if they do not use technology in classrooms, it is necessary to understand that sometimes, simple, conventional learning works best.

“Children who have been handed iPads and smartphones when they are as young as three years old, have lower concentration levels and learning capability. Moreover, the conversations they have with friends also restricted to TV shows and games,” he said.

The school plans to increase cyber literacy and make the discourse around technology addiction more transparent. Sharma of SHUT Clinic, who launched a Digital Detox app earlier this year, is now developing an intervention module that he wants to take to schools and colleges. This, he said, will help academicians study how to control use of technology as a coping mechanism for peer pressure, boredom and stress. It would also help, he added, if parents and elders are less judgmental about those needing help.

Sunil Abraham, executive director, The Centre for Internet and Society, told ET that parents must understand the concept of introducing incremental screen time to avoid addiction. This means, children between ages 1 and 3 must have zero screen time, those between 3 and 9 must have one hour of screen time every day, while adolescents between 9 and 15 years of age can access internet only for two hours daily.

“Parents todayccessed by children need to be kept in common areas like the living room,” said Abraham, stressing that parents should never use gadgets to distract children or keep them busy.

Tejaswi Uthappa agrees. According to her, open lines of communication about internet usage and cyberspace helps people seek help. “Our initiative, for instance, started with just me. But now, there are over a thousand adults — parents, working professionals or homemakers - who come on-board the moment they hear that we combat internet addiction. Only our intent and not our method, matters to them,” she said. “So it is a question of stakeholders acknowledging that this as a problem and coming together to find ways to solve it.”