Paradox may be the spice of life, but spices can be too hot. Or sour. Or bitter. And in this fast-changing world, new paradoxes spring up every day. One of the latest may be framed as a question: does excessive social networking lead to anti-social behaviour? There are a number of alternatives to this too - does too much online gaming make people glum, say, or do ecstatic friendships online mean fewer friends who can be hugged? There is growing agreement now that problematic internet use or PIU is not as cute as the acronym sounds. Cyber addiction - that hits harder - is being seen as the cause for acute damage that is spreading rapidly. Although doctors and counsellors have been dealing with the problem for a while now, a psychiatric out-patient department has been opened for the first time in the country at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi. So far, doctors feel that school- and college-going young people are the most vulnerable to this 'addiction'. They need to be counselled and even admitted if the symptoms of the addiction are too severe.
To be constantly online, whether to be in the loop, to be in touch, to express every passing thought, or to play games, to gamble, to watch videos, seems to have become an irresistible temptation for many - and not just for the school- or college-going population. The desire has grown as accessibility has grown. With devices becoming mobile, it is now possible to be always online. The positive results of this are endless: immediate communication, more efficient work, the ability to transmit work and ideas without travelling, quicker fact-checking and even some amount of knowledge-gathering, instant access to texts, music, performances, lectures, whether for study or entertainment are just some examples. Obviously, human beings cannot take too much of a good thing. Somewhere along the way, they manage to get carried away - in the completely wrong direction.
The psychological effects of cyber addiction include, paradoxically enough, depression, anxiety, stress, even loneliness. It also causes dysfunctional behaviour, disrupting patterns of sleep, eating and dressing, and leading to social withdrawal and also violence. Instant gratification, whether by online shopping or by receiving immediate responses to selfies, can become a dangerous mental habit. This aspect of cyber connectivity represents an amazing example of supply creating demand. It was possible to work, talk and enjoy life before the palmtop and the smartphone. Everyone talked, but they did not walk into the paths of buses and trains with phones stuck to their ears in order to do so. There were no such phones. There was no felt need for them till they arrived in their mind-boggling variety. No wonder old-fashioned wisdom advises folks to be careful about what they wish for.
