When Dr Manoj Kumar Sharma set up an internet deaddiction centre in Bengaluru’s Nimhans psychiatric hospital four years ago, he barely saw a patient a week. “Today, we get at least five to six cases every day,” he says of the Services for Healthy Use of Technology (SHUT) clinic that runs a 21-day programme to wean people off devices and screens. It’s not cause for cheer for Sharma, but an indicator of the fact that Indians are increasingly tied to their screens — and that some of them are realising that they need help with it.
To a large extent, it is young adults in the 16-20 age group who are “internet addicts”. “These are kids whose parents can afford to buy them gaming consoles and smartphones,” says Sharma, associate professor of clinical psychology.
The reasons for addiction are wide-ranging — from lack of playgrounds to being a single child with both parents at work.
Read more of this in a report published in The Times of India...
Time to take some precautionary measures at home/office before professional help is needed.
