Mangaluru: Several youth representatives, psychologists, and Counsellors from all over India have participated in a virtual discussion on “Smartphone and internet addiction”, organized by AutumnMind.com and Indian Catholic Youth Movement, (ICYM, Mangalore) on 21 June.
The Smartphone and internet addiction among teenagers and youth have increased on an alarming scale during the lockdown, observed a group of Psychologists and youth representatives in Mangalore.
The interactive webinar was addressed by Mr. Prabhakar Shetty, an Education Consultant and a senior Counsellor who pointed out that mobile addiction has increased tremendously since the lockdown was announced in March to control COVID 19 pandemic.
Prabhakar Shetty, who is specialized in Smartphone addiction counseling attached to AutumnMind.com said mobile addiction is a growing concern among all age groups in society almost similar to alcoholism or drug abuse.
He said Smartphone addiction also exhibits the same withdrawal syndromes such as aggressive behavior, depression, anxiety disorders, sleeplessness, and several health issues. He quoted several examples of youth committing behavioral disorders due to virtual world addiction.
Sharon Solomon, a Counsellor based in Hyderabad pointed out the example of a teenager committing suicide in her city as the child was denied Smartphone access. Dr. Maya Kirpalani, a senior psychologist from Mumbai observed that Smartphone addiction has increased the gap between siblings in families and decreased family bonds.
Jesvita Quodres, former national coordinator of YCS/YSM observed that youth must differentiate between “use and abuse” of smartphones as they all grow up in the virtual world. They should learn to use smartphones in a “really smart and responsible way”, she pointed out as she observed how it affects family relations and other priorities in life.
Dheerav Lobo, an ICYM youth observed that Smartphones and internet services have remarkably affected youth negatively. “They are loosing their priorities in life as they spend several hours screen time, engaged in online games and social media”, he pointed out.
Fayal D, Souza, an ICYM youth leader said she has disconnected her social media completely when she prepared for her exams, but several people were commenting as though “I don’t belong to the modern world”.
Prabhakar Shetty cautioned the need for becoming aware of the various tactics used by the virtual world like TikTok and various online games which are designed to make one addicted through “likes and dislikes”. One needs to be careful about developing friendships on Facebook and other social networking sites and getting cheated.
Shetty said increasing communication at home between parents and children and finding quality family time for each other is one solution to decrease mobile addiction.
Dr. Thomas Scaria, the moderator of the session clarified that smartphones and the internet have played key roles in educating and informing people about the pandemic and the discussion is not aimed at belittling the role of virtual media.
“The discussion is aimed at promoting responsible use of virtual media and Smartphones without developing over-dependency or addiction to such devices”, he said.
Over 85 youth leaders from ICYM and Psychologists from AutumnMind.com from Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kannur, Bangalore, Mangalore, and Colombo took part in the interactive webinar.
Autumn Mind (www.autumnmind.com) is an online Counselling platform for promoting mental health and emotional well being in the society, targeting children, adolescents, youths, adults, or parents on varieties of mental health issues. The portal has over 25 Counsellors based in different parts of India.
