Mental Disorders- Brought To You By Internet

Let’s begin with the perceptive tech-quote by Andrew Brown -

The Internet is so big, so powerful and pointless that for some people it is a complete substitute for life.

The reason behind putting up this quote is to reiterate the present scenario of us globally.

As the Internet evolved into a ubiquitous part of #ModernLife, the worldhas been witnessing a rise in the number of several mental disorders, directly intertwined to our use of digital technology. These afflictions, which range from benign to malignant shockingly, didn’t even exist, until very recently.The evolution of these alien disorders is throttling us to an alarming situation.

Don’t be surprised if you have already perceived at least one or two of them!

Phantom Ringing Syndrome:

It is nothing but a perception that pricks you into thinking that your phone is ringing, when it is not in real!

70 percent of self-categorised heavy-mobile users have reported experiencing phantom buzzing in their pocket. All courtesy goes to misplaced response mechanisms in our brains.

Nomophobia:

Phone died out of charge? No electrical outlet in sight?This horrible disconnected feeling when you can’t access your phone in usual rush, appear more horrible to addicted phone-users and often result in anxiety-attack.

This uncomfortable feeling of techno deprivation is medically termed as “Nomophobia”--an abbreviation of “no-mobile phobia.” In today’s world we’ve all been conditioned to be alert for the pop-up sound from our phones. We pull out our phones even though nothing has taken place.

According to a study, high-usage phone users were most acutely affected when they were kept aloof from their phones.

Cybersickness:

The disorientation and dizziness that users feel when interacting with certain digital environments.

It came under limelight when people using the new incarnation of iOS, started filling with complaints to the Apple support forums. The main conclusion was people feeling disoriented and nauseous after using the new interface. This happened due to Apple’s utilization of the parallax effect, making the icons and homescreen appear to be moving within a three-dimensional world inside the iPhone.

The term “cybersickness” came in the early 1990s from the disorienting feeling experienced by users of anyy virtual reality systems. It is a form of motion-sickness that ultimately results to dizziness and nausea.

Facebook Depression:

Depression caused by spending excessive time on Social media sites like Facebook is turning the mental health of users more than miserable.

Facebook and other social media platforns may contribute to depression in basically three ways:

Bullying;

Comparison with others; and

influencing self-worth, says Brent L. Fletcher, a mental health therapist.

One readily possible reason is that most users tend to post only good news about themselves on Facebook: Parties,Vacations, promotions, etc. So, it’s very easy to get engrossed under the false belief that everyone else is leading a far happier and successful lives than you (when this may turn out to be totally baseless).

Earlier there wasn’t any relation between facebook usage and emotional issues, rather profiles with large number of Facebook friends were actually shown to have fewer incidences of emotional strain. This was because, in earlier cases attending phone calls were equally important form of communication besides scrolling feeds.

What is the moral of the story?

• don’t believe anything & everything your “friends” post on Facebook

• do revive talking on phone calls!

Internet Addiction Disorder:

Internet Addiction Disorder (sometimes referred to as Problematic Internet Use) is excessive Internet use that hinders normal responding towards life. The terms “addiction” and “disorder” are somewhat controversial but these two term expresses the inability to control the amount of time spent on the digital interface; the need for a new gaming series to achieve a desired mood and compulsiveness to continue the same despite family conflict and adverse work or academic sequences.

Online Gaming Addiction:

Also known as Video game addiction or internet gaming disorder is the compulsive need to access online multiplayer games one after another.It results in significant impairment in the gamer’s function in various life domains.

In South Korea, about 8 percent of the population between the ages of 9 and 39 suffer from either Internet or online gaming addiction. The country has thus enacted a “Cinderella Law,” which cuts off access to online games between midnight and 6 a.m. to users under the age of 16 nationwide.

When we are addicted to something our “feel good” neurotransmitters—particularly dopamine and serotonin are released. So if you are a game-addict then the need for those neurotransmitters will drive you to play games and to keep repeating the same.

Cyberchondria:

Otherwise known as Compuchondria,is the tendency to believe you have diseases from the symptoms you read about online.

Having a stomach pain? It might be a mere one. But then again, blablamedico.com said that stomach pain might be a symptom of appendicitis and you may even die out of that!

That’s the kind of thinking that goes on in the head of Cyberchondriacs.

We all must have experienced ourselves to be cyberchondriac every once in a while.

The Google Effect:

The tendency of human mind not to retain much information because all the answers are waiting only a few clicks away!

We always thank our Internet for making all the information easily- accessible to us, but silently it is retarding our brain-functioning.

Limitless access to Google and other search engines has induced our brains to retain less information. We get lazy. Somewhere in our minds we think “I don’t need to memorize this because I will just Google it later.”

While using Internet, it is really important to

Stay safe in the Internet; but, more importantly, stay safe from it.