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Internet addicts rush to detox themselves at AIIMS

A Behavioural Addiction Clinic at the AIIMS Psychiatry department is currently treating over 50 patients for net addiction. Most patients are between 15-22 years

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Inderjeet Singh (not his real name) was a model child. A class topper throughout his education, Singh made his parents proud when he topped his Class X board exam results.

After this accomplishment, his father got him a personal laptop to work on his school assignments, and that is when Singh became internet addicted with disastrous consequences. He failed Class XI twice and is now repeating the same class from an open school.

Singh is one of a growing number of patients who are seeing doctors at the Behavioural Addiction Clinic at the AIIMS Psychiatry department. Established in October 2016, doctors say that they are seeing 52 regular patients which came to them from when the department first got established. In addition to this, two to three new cases are coming in every week. Most of the cases are between the ages of 15-22 highlighting a dangerous trend.

Internet addiction is not easy to treat and doctors say that the first phase begins by understanding just why the patient needs the internet so desperately. What they find are a multitude of factors. Depression, social phobia — this was the reason diagnosed in Inderjeet's case — and loneliness. In some cases medication might be required but mostly encouraging a change in thought patterns, a strict scheduled activity schedule, and behavioural analysis, can yield results. Net usage is not banned but regulated. In Inderjeet's case, his activities are being closely monitored and his internet usage is restricted to 30 minutes every day.

"In Inderjeet's case, he was lonely and these online games gave him a chance to interact with people while keeping away his anxieties and nervousness from them," says Yatan Pal Singh Balhara, Senior Psychiatrist, AIIMS.

"These real time interactive games lead to a virtual world, which they find less troublesome and accepting as there is no rejection and thus get drawn to it. Most addicts have some underlying issue that leads to addiction," he adds.

A senior doctor added that they had been receiving similar cases since over the last two years before they decided to start this clinic.

Symptoms of Internet Addiction

Inderjeet started to play games and surf the internet for over nine to ten hours a day leading to a total cut from his friend circle. Soon, his family started to observe changes in behavior, where he would get angry for no reason, showed procrastination and his grades started to fall. He then failed in class and his family had to bring him to a psychiatrist for his problem as he had to drop out from school.

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