Bengaluru clinic battles virtual world addictions
DIGITAL ADDICTION The effect of this addiction on families was alarming, with addicts preferring to concentrate on their social media and digital lives.
For fifteen-year-old K (name withheld to protect identity), being paradropped onto a remote field, where he battles against other players to be the last survivor, is a way of life.
K, though, isn’t fighting a reallife battle and isn’t part of a reallife survival game. He is addicted to the popular game PlayerUnderground’s Battelegrounds or PUBG (pronounced pub-g). Created last December, the game was an instant hit and according to the website SuperData, which collates information on revenues of gaming platforms, PUBG was the third most popular game even in June.
K, who is a student of class 10, was so immersed in the game that he took to staying up till 2-3 am, waking up late and missing school as a result. It was at this point last month that his parents, worried over their son’s future, took him to the SHUT (Service for Healthy Use of Technology) Clinic, located at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, which helps people deal with internet addiction.
It didn’t take Dr Manojkumar Sharma, who runs the clinic, long to diagnose that K suffered from gaming disorder.
Gaming was recognised as a disorder in June by the World Health Organisation. And K showed all the symptoms of having the disorder like prioritising gaming over other activities, and continuing gaming despite facing negative consequences.
However, in K’s case, visiting Dr Sharma was not as fruitful as his parents had hoped. “In the two sessions I had with the patient, it was clear that he was unwilling to recognise that he had a problem. As a result, it was difficult for us to proceed,” Dr Sharma said.
Beyond gaming, even social media usage is being recognised as highly addictive, prompting Facebook and Instagram to introduce a new dashboard that will show users the time they spend on the apps, according to a news agency.
In the four years since it was opened, the SHUT Clinic has seen a steady increase in the number of patients showing signs of addiction to internet, social media, gaming and pornography. “When we began, we got maybe one patient every week. But now, we get at least six or seven patients a week,” Dr Sharma said. According to him, this was thanks to widespread awareness that usage of these services could lead to addiction.
And addiction can have surprising outcomes, said Dr Sharma, citing a case where a patient switched from cannabis usage to pornography. “We are yet to ascertain if the same principles of pleasure apply to that case as well. But what was interesting in that case was that the patient had completely overcome his addiction to cannabis, only that it was replaced by pornography,” he said.
In an increasingly digitised world where people broadcast every aspect of their lives on social media, Dr Sharma said, the need for validation in the real world had shifted to the virtual space.
“Take, for instance, the case of K. He has only about four or five friends outside of his digital world, where he has at least 1,000 friends,” said Dr Sharma. Addiction to technological devices is not new. In an older study, researchers at NIMHANS found that television addiction existed, too.
The need for the SHUT Clinic was felt after studies of internet use and its effect on community. “We found that there was a significant proportion of people who were addicted,” said Dr Sharma. Studies of internet use across classes found there was little difference in the impact of technology.
And Dr Sharma found addiction was inducing increased levels of stress among all age groups. “Adolescents reported stress because they felt constantly pressured to post messages on social media,” he said.
The effect of this addiction on families was alarming, with addicts preferring to concentrate on their social media and digital lives. “We coined the term ‘online infidelity’ to describe an emergent phenomenon, where individuals satisfy themselves using online platforms rather than through physical intimacy with their partners,” said Dr Sharma.
These reports of the SHUT Clinic come at a time when the impact of the ever-present digital life is being felt across the world. And studies are not just concentrating on the impact of internet addiction in the personal sphere.
plant pigment found in leafy greens, tomatoes and berries can reduce the death of brain cells called neurons by up to 60% after a stroke, found researchers from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras.
A stroke can cause temporary or permanent disabilities including permanent paralysis, difficulty talking or swallowing, memory loss and thinking difficulties, pain, and behavioural changes.
“The pigment, called Quercetin, is an antioxidant and is known to have neuroprotective properties, meaning having foods rich in it can protect one against stroke. We have shown that even in the aftermath of a stroke, quercetin-based medication along with the recommended rehabilitative measures like physiotherapy, reduce permanent damage caused by the stroke,” said Professor Amal Kanti Bera from department of biotechnology, IIT Madras.
Indian Institute of Technology Madras researchers have demonstrated the effectiveness of Quercetin in cell models in the laboratory and are currently doing efficacy studies on mouse models. Quercetin reduces the damage caused by ischemic stroke, which is caused by a clot blocking oxygen supply to parts of the brain. Ischemic stroke accounts for 87%-90% of all strokes. In India, 119–145 persons per 100,000 population suffer from stroke, according to Global Burden of Disease 2016 data.
BENGALURU: In the two sessions I had with the patient, it was clear that he was unwilling to recognise that he had a problem. As a result, it was difficult for us to proceed
DR MANOJKUMAR SHARMA, SHUT Clinic at NIMHANS NEWDELHI:A The pigment, called Quercetin, is an antioxidant and is known to have neuroprotective properties, meaning having foods rich in it can protect one against stroke.