"Get off the mobile and go outside," are these words being heard more commonly nowadays, than at any other point in time in life? The answer could be frighteningly real as humanity has just stepped in one of the newest forms of a psychiatric disorder. What's worse is that the medical world is divided whether if this should be considered as a disease and separate field to be dedicated to it or simply pass it off as a generation growth that the future has to embrace.

Let us look a little deeper about the disorder and the serious nature that it indicates.

What is internet & phone addiction?
Only recently did Internet addition and phone addition become part of the diagnostic and statistical manual of the mental disorder - Meaning that internet addiction is now effectively considered a psychiatric disorder and there are chances of identifying and treating it using medically approved means. As the name suggests, internet addiction and phone addiction means that the person is using his creative and designated time on the medium when he is no longer required to. Simply put it becomes an obsessive habit on the part of the person to look into the phone and use the internet as a routine activity. Long-term addiction can lead to many psychological factors such as withdrawal symptoms, depression, and general loss of awareness about the surroundings. For most people, the syndrome can be an underlying factor of an even more severe health condition that the person is trying to mask by whiling away his time with the internet and the mobile. Across the people who get affected by it, the common traits are the internet gaming and social media.


The addiction in today’s world:
The velocity of the disorder is yet to take on the world. As of now only two countries- South Korea and China have identified the disorder as a disease and treatments are administered. Europe and United States have just categorized it as a disorder and research is being done on it. The general treatment plan that exists now aims to understand the patient first. The psychiatric treatment tries to successfully make a minor bridge between the user and his addiction. From practicing different time of using the internet to suggesting new schedules and goals, the person can be slowly be eased backed into the society. The purpose of the psychiatric treatment is not to block the internet/ mobile usage completely but to limit them. A person is educated to get his satisfaction in other forms like relations ships, outdoor activities than to depend on the internet. Apart from it some depression reducing drugs can also be had at the insistence of the psychiatrist.

Medical Possibilities
Professors argue that Internet addiction and mobile addiction is not exactly a disease. It simply determines an underlying medical condition of a person that needs more treatment. Though still in its early stages the medical world has made it clear that its contribution towards these mental addictions would increase by massive miles within the turn of the decade.

Internet addiction is a very recent phenomenon, but is already a cause for concern. With the advent of various social networking websites, people are increasingly becoming addicted to the internet. Internet addiction disorder is often characterized by people inching to form an emotional attachment with people and activities, all of them online. You may enjoy connecting to people more over the virtual interface instead of the real world; this usually stems from an inability to establish real human contact.

The symptoms of internet addiction disorder are:
1. Excessive usage of the internet

2. Depression, mood swings and irritability if one doesn’t get access to the internet

3. Any effort to reduce internet usage is usually unsuccessful

4. You may experience constant problems in personal relationships, education and your job due to incessant internet usage

5. A tendency of lying to close ones when they ask you how much time you spend over the internet

6. Using internet to escape from real world problems

Further complications

Internet addiction can gradually isolate you. You may develop an aversion to meeting and communicating with people in real life. This can impair your social skills and make you socially awkward. This disorder also create problems in relationships as it can reduce the time you spend interacting personally.

Internet addiction may also lead you to create online personas to evade low self-esteem issues. This actually aggravates the problem instead of solving it; can result in severe anxiety and depression. Withdrawal symptoms might result in anxiety, depression, irritation and loneliness. This disorder can lead to complications such as dry eyes, headaches, change in sleep patterns and subsequent problems in falling asleep. Back pain from sitting upright while you are on the internet is also very common problem.

"Get off the mobile and go outside" - are these words being heard more commonly nowadays than at any point in time before? Humanity has just stepped into one of the newest psychiatric disorders. What is worse is that the medical world is divided on whether this should be considered as a disorder, or simply be passed off as a generation gap. Let us look a little deeper about the disorder.

What is internet addiction?

Only recently did Internet addiction and phone addiction became a part of the diagnostic and statistical manual of the mental disorders i.e. Internet addiction is now effectively considered a psychiatric disorder, and there are chances of identifying and treating it using medically approved means. As the name suggests, internet addiction and phone addiction means that the person is using his creative and designated time on a medium when he is no longer required to. Simply put, it becomes an obsessive habit on part of the person to look into his/her phone and use the internet as a routine activity. Long term addiction can lead to many psychological factors such as withdrawal symptoms, depression, and general loss of awareness about the surroundings. For most people, the syndrome can be an underlying factor of an even more severe health condition that the person is trying to mask by whiling away his/her time on the internet and mobile.


Addiction in today’s world

As of now, only two countries, South Korea and China have identified the disorder, and treatments are administered. Europe and the United States have also categorised it as a disorder, and research is being done on it. The general treatment plan that exists presently, aims to understand the patient first. The psychiatric treatment tries to successfully bridge the user and his/her addiction. From practicing different times of using the internet, to suggesting new schedules and goals, the person can be slowly be eased back into society. The purpose of psychiatric intervention is not to block the internet/ mobile usage completely, but to limit it. A person is educated to get his satisfaction in other forms, like relationships, outdoor activities.

Medical Possibilities

Though still in its early stages, the medical world has made it clear that its contribution towards these mental addictions would increase many fold in the very near future.

मोबाईलनं माणसाचं अवघं विश्व व्यापून टाकलं आहे. दिवसरात्र माणूस मोबाईलच्याच आसपास घुटमळत असतो. अनेकांना तर सकाळी उठल्याउठल्या मोबाईल तपासण्याची सवय असते. तुम्हाला जर ही सवय असेल तर तातडीनं सोडून द्या. सकाळी उठल्यावर लगेचच मोबाईल पाहणाऱ्यांना अनेक त्रास होत असल्याची धक्कादायक माहिती समोर आली आहे.

सकाळी उठल्यावर लगेच मोबाईल पाहिल्याने मेंदूवर ताण पडतो. रक्तदाबही वाढण्याची शक्यता असते. आदल्या दिवशी घडलेल्या घटनांची उजळणी होत असल्यानं तणावही वाढतो. दिवसाची सुरुवात तणावानं होते. माणसाची कार्यक्षमताही कमी होते.

मोबाईल गरजेचा आहे. पण तुमच्या जिवाएवढं मोल मोबाईलला देऊ नका. मोबाईलचा अतिरेक टाळा. नाहीतर जिवघेणे आजार तुमचा घास घ्यायला कधीही तयारच आहेत.