19 February,2010 09:08 AM IST | | Alifiya Khan
Psychiatrists confirm that increasing number of youngsters are facing problems in the real world, as they are hooked to the virtual world
Nineteen-year-old Nikhil Taneja (name changed) skips his classes, does not meet friends, lies to his parents and even misses his daily bath, all so that he can make time to play his favourite online/LAN game Counter Strike.
Psychologist Dr Natasha D'cruz says that like Taneja, many youngsters in the city are getting addicted to the Internet.
"In the last few months, I have had to deal with two such cases every month. This was not the case earlier. Life, for these youngsters, begins and ends at the computer station," said D'cruz.
According to psychiatrists, Internet addiction is a mental health problem. It is a kind of impulse control disorder. . "Usually, such patients spend over 10 hours online. They develop depression if they are away from the Internet for an hour. They fight with parents over their use of the Internet. They start living a virtual life and have little contact with the real world. I used to see one such patient in a year five years back. I see two a month these days," said Dr Hemant Chandorkar, psychiatrist, Ruby Hall Clinic.
Psychiatrist Dr Anjali Chabbria, who treats eight such patients in a month at her Mumbai clinic, said the addiction has moved on from Internet to any kind of screen.
"It is not just the Internet. Kids want to be on their BlackBerrys 24x7. Every 10 minutes, they update status messages, click and upload pictures and create virtual IDs. It is frightening to see youngsters wake up at midnight to water plants on Farmville."
Dr Mina Bobdey, psychiatrist at Jehangir hospital, has also noted this problem in some of her young patients.
"These youngsters are not able to control their impulses. They become obsessed and get hooked on to social networking websites. The only therapy is to wean them away forcibly just as one would do in case of an alcohol or drug addiction."
