We live in a world of liberation, independence & empowerment! This is but our biggest delusion. We are the worst ever victims of enslavement. We are slaves of something that we never leave alone and that is our mobile phone. Sweet seem its taste but our time does waste. Lovely it looks in our lap but this is the biggest trap. This is what breaks the psychological principle of No two individuals are alike. Fortunately, or unfortunately, we all are in this trap; only degree and intensity of our addiction differ. Internet Addiction, in particular and mobile phone addiction, is a disorder and we all have this to some extent ;however exceptions are always there. Disorder is anything that affects a person’s social ,educational or occupational life. Doesn’t our mobile phone fall in that category. Doesn’t it affect our social life. Doesn’t it connect us with a person who is miles apart but disconnect us from person sitting next to us; Doesn’t it affect our personal and occupational life. Superficially it has connected us but in real sense it has led to detachment. Relationships have gone for a toss.
Internet has revolutionised education, business and medical care. None can deny this fact. Everything is at our finger tips. With a single click we can download books, we can book tickets, we can order things, we can assess any information we need; we can get news updates from every corner of globe; but above all it has added to our mental burden. We all are having a minor form of OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder). Our mind always remains obsessed with thoughts that on my fb /whatsApp account someone may have texted me, someone may have uploaded something, somebody may have liked or commented on my post; this creates FOMO (fear of missing out) and to reduce these obsessions we are bound towards compulsions (repetitive actions to reduce obsessions). We check our phones frequently, every ten minutes.
School and college going students are worst hit by this menace. It has put their social, moral and academic career at stake; There are many students who are not able to focus on lectures just because their mind is preoccupied. some resist the temptation while some start chit chatting during lecture.
Some young buds have developed features of narcissism (unrealistic self love); they keep on capturing selfies and upload it on social media to get appreciation for their beauty and looks.
Many develop depressive features just because people don’t like the pic/post they upload or they don’t get ample likes or their friend list isn’t that much lengthy as their peers. Some have become addicted to watching filthy items on internet as it’s freely accessible and nobody is there to stop them. It has taken a heavy toll on their moral development. It has affected their social life. They prefer isolation. Even if they sit with family, they don’t know what’s going on around them; what they are eating. They don’t interact with family members. Their lifestyle has become sedentary. Healthy hobbies like book reading, gardening, playing games have gone.
Not only this, mobile phone has ruined many lives. Many teenager boys and girls fall in this trap. Some unknown person sends them friend request, start chit chatting and then show them castles in air and they are gone. They use 8 letter password I Love you to rob their hearts for ever. They then lament and repent and unfortunately they can’t share this to anyone.
There are many girls who sent their pics to unknown boys, so called fb friends, and they then misused them. Who is to be held responsible? There are some genuine people. Everyone isn’t going to dupe us but we can’t trust everyone. It’s high time for parents to keep check on their children. What they surf, with whom they chat, how much time they use internet.
Widespread use and easy accessibility of internet has led to internet addiction, online gaming disorder, infomania, increase in cyber crimes, cyber bullying, cyber pornography & other psychological issues like sleep deprivation, depression, impulsivity, anxiety especially among youngsters thereby it is high time that cyber psychology should be started as a course in colleges and universities & more and more researches be conducted on cyber behaviours so as to help people in curtailing the time spent online and sensitize them about netiquettes, and cyber security
“Life is too precious to be wasted in being hooked to social networks like Facebook, instagram, snapchat. Let’s use internet for infotainment but not let it lead to derailment. Spent leisure time in healthy hobbies like reading, exercise, art and prayers. Above all don’t forget to spend time with family. Let’s try to curtail our virtual time from today and feel the difference. “