Dr. Mudassir Hassan Pandith
Recently, a case of 10-year-old young boy, Arshid (name changed), was referred to me for counseling and psycho-therapeutic assessment, which motivated me to pen down this write-up.
The main complaint about this boy was lack of interest, lack of response when called upon, decreased interest in studies, bargaining with family members for every routine task, aggressive behavior and poor performance at school.
The boy exhibited an average level of intellectual functioning but appeared interested more in mobile indulgence and unusual obsession for internet .This boy, in the earliest stages of adolescence, required psychiatric intervention and was treated with the help of relevant therapies by our team and is currently doing fine.
What is more important lesson worth sharing from this case is that there are many such boys who are not focusing on studies and face similar behavioral malfunctions, but do not attract attention and therefore any psychological help from mental health experts.
The American Psychological Association (APA) discussed the problems of internet addiction way back in 1997. Internet Addiction Disorder has not been included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) because American Medical Association refused to recommend to the APA for its inclusion.
However, a number of researchers believed that the symptoms of internet addiction should be included in the list of other such disorders and young children suffering from such problems need to be provided with expert help and proper psychological counseling.
The relationship between internet addiction and various other compulsive or impulsive behaviours constitutes an urgent and significant area of scientific investigation.
Excessive use internet is often associated with symptoms such as loss of sense of time or a neglect of basic drives. The sufferer also develops withdrawal symptoms like in drug addiction upon discontinuation of use of internet, including feelings of anger, tension, and/or depression when the computer is inaccessible to such addicts.
In acute cases, this behaviour may be coupled with a low level of tolerance, including a repetitive need for better computer equipment, more software or more hours of use, arguments, lying to parents or family, poor achievement, social isolation, and fatigue.
Recent studies have shown that some internet users are beginning to develop problems due to a potential psychophysiological disorder known as Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD), the term first coined by Irving Goldberg as a satirical hoax in 1995 based on the diagnosis of compulsive gambling.
In modern world, internet plays very important role because it is an essential and efficient source of information but its excessive and unwarranted use can cause potential hazardous and nauseating effects such as disruption of one’s normal life and that of those near to them.
The more profound question related to this syndrome is how to recognize Internet Addiction disorder. Following is an outline of symptoms given by American Psychiatric Association (APA) and if any three or more symptoms are present during the course of twelve months, a person could be diagnosed with IAD. These are : increased amounts of time spent to gain the same amount of satisfaction and/or lower satisfaction levels from the same level of usage; withdrawal symptoms that begin to manifest within a month of less usage or no usage which include trembling, anxiety, obsessing about the internet, dreaming about it, voluntary and involuntary typing motions; internet usage relieves symptoms or is used to avoid them ; internet usage time is often longer than planned or is used more often than expected ; a large amount of time is spent on internet-related activities including reading about it, researching, using different web software, etc.
If we look at our own society and surroundings, we can find many people working on internet, spending about eight or more hours a day using it. However, none of them may be called an addict till it does not interfere with their normal life schedules or behaviors.
Many family disputes reported to me during clinical treatment include mobile internet addiction as one important ingredient or cause. Very often, female clients reported that their husbands are always busy with android mobile phones, logged to facebook, twitter or whatsapp or surfing the internet and do not give proper attention to their wives or quality time to their children, nor focus properly on family problems.
A large number of modern youth is spending much time on internet without purpose and we have observed it during counseling sessions that such subjects feel withdrawal symptoms without internet. It is always better to have internet facility at home but people, particularly parents should carefully use it and supervise young children their internet indulgence under strict control.
Parents should especially take care of their children and ensure that the children use internet not beyond the genuine necessity and in physical presence or supervision of family members.
It is time to act and if we do not take this phenomenon serious, then we will face the problems like other countries of the world who are finding it difficult to tackle this emerging internet syndrome. Countries such as South Korea considers Internet addiction one of its most serious public health issues. Using data from 2006, the South Korean government estimates that approximately 210,000 South Korean children (2.1%; ages 6–19) are afflicted and require treatment. About 80% of those needing treatment may need psychotropic medications and perhaps 20% to 24% require hospitalization. China is also concerned about this disorder.
At a recent conference at Beijing Military Region Central Hospital, Tao Ran, who is a director of Addiction Medicine, reported that 13.7% of Chinese adolescent internet users meet internet addiction diagnoses.
Internet addiction adversely affects one’s physical health, family life and academic performance.
It is also seen that youth use internet in night which leads to sleep disorders and may harm their immune system, thus increasing their vulnerability to assorted diseases.
Physical health problems due to more internet use include back pain and eyestrain.
Family relationships are seriously disrupted by Internet addicts due to the decrease in time spending with family, reluctance of performing family duties such as doing household chores and increase of conflicts with family members.
Academic problems caused by internet addiction include decline in study habits, significant drop in grades, missing classes, increased risk of being placed on academic probation and poor integration in extracurricular activities.
Common finding in new generation is that life without internet would be boring, empty and they also feel that they are socially isolated. Cybersexual addiction (which means addiction to cyber-pornographic materials) and Cyber-relationship addiction (which means addiction to online relationships) two are commonly found indulgences in the youth, which can potentially lead to cyber crime and cheats. If internet usage is becoming problematic or you find yourself using it more and more at the expense of other activities it is advisable that you seek help via a licensed mental health professional.
Finally, it is also important that the experts and mental health professionals should conduct awareness programs in schools and colleges through seminars and workshops about Internet Addiction Syndromes in schools and colleges of the Kashmir Valley.
(The author is Lecturer and clinical Psychologist in Government Medical College, Srinagar, and executive member of Indian Association of Clinical Psychology (IACP). Can be reached at lovesaif.hassan@gmail.com)
