Children with mental illness due to social media abuse

Both parents often work away from home, so Khang lives with his grandmother and is "free" to use the phone and computer. Earlier this year, the mother applied for a job transfer closer to home to pick up and take care of her child, determined to focus all her resources on helping Khang pass the entrance exam to a specialized school. During this time, she discovered that her child's studies were declining, he was not focused, was often angry, tired, and had a tendency to withdraw from all social activities.

One time, accidentally checking his phone, his mother discovered that Khang had joined negative groups on social networks, often chatting online with obscene language. In particular, his browsing history showed a lot of content teaching how to self-harm, harmful challenges, even life-threatening. When his family confiscated his phone, Khang protested, even threatening to commit suicide.

At Mai Huong Mental Hospital in early June, the male student confided to the doctor that he "likes to look at pictures of accidents and bleeding because it feels good and relaxing", adding that he "cannot leave social media". After examination and testing, Khang was diagnosed with social media addiction and severe depression, and had to be hospitalized for inpatient treatment.

Also addicted to social media, last year, Ms. Hong's 16-year-old daughter in Thanh Xuan had to be hospitalized for anxiety disorder after only one month of summer vacation. The mother said that her daughter had a habit of "hugging" her phone while eating, sleeping and even bathing. She often stayed up late surfing the internet until she fell asleep from exhaustion. However, as soon as she heard the phone ring, the girl quickly woke up and opened it to check.

Realizing that her child was abusing social media, she asked her child to only use the phone for 3 hours a day. "With the time limit, my child was always restless, irritable, and often took the phone to play when I was not home," she said.

Gradually, the female student lost weight rapidly, locked herself in her room, and often heard scolding in her ear. She took her child to the doctor, who diagnosed her with depression with psychotic symptoms, and prescribed medication combined with psychotherapy, and she was not allowed to use the phone.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), addiction is a state of periodic or chronic dependence on substances or behaviors. This state is characterized by the inability to control behavior repeatedly, despite negative effects and consequences, in order to achieve the goal of keeping people in a state of immediate pleasure, or reducing unpleasant feelings.

Social media addiction is manifested by constant preoccupation and use of the internet; increasing need to use it, "cannot bear not being online"; sadness, depression when not using it; using the internet as a way to escape personal problems...

In Vietnam, social media addiction is considered by experts to be very common. The Digital 2021 report shows that every day, Vietnamese people use the Internet for an average of 6 hours and 47 minutes, of which 2 hours and 21 minutes are spent on social media. There are currently no statistics on the number of minors addicted to social media. However, the rate of students suffering from mental disorders is increasing, and social media is one of the causes of this situation.

Recently, in the NYtimes, US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy expressed deep concern about the negative effects of excessive social media use, especially on young people. Mr. Murthy pointed out a series of studies showing a correlation between social media use and mental health problems such as anxiety and depression.

Research published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine shows that 12-15 year olds who use social media more than 3 hours a day are twice as likely to have mental health problems as those who do not.

Another study published in Nature Communications, conducted by a research team from Cambridge University (UK), showed that 11-13 year old girls and 14-15 year old boys are the two groups most vulnerable to social networks.

According to experts, children's exposure to and use of computers, smartphones, and social networks too much will replace important activities that help develop the brain such as sleeping, exercising, and meeting relatives and friends. Social media platforms are flooded with extreme, harmful content, including dangerous but "normalized" content, such as self-harm, eating disorders, suicide, etc.

Not only that, people who spend too much time on social networks often compare themselves to others, feel inferior, easily leading to disappointment and depression. The pressure of beautiful, flashy images on social networks, as well as the pressure from likes and comments, makes young people face many mental health problems, typically anxiety disorders.

In addition, young people's excessive focus on social media prevents them from forming real relationships. Social media addiction prevents them from spending time thinking about their life goals, causing a loss of motivation, and stimulating negative thoughts. Children also have physical problems such as myopia, neck pain, cervical spondylosis, spinal muscle spasm syndrome, sleep disorders, etc.

For prevention, Master Vuong Nguyen Toan Thien, Professional Director of Lumos Counseling and Psychotherapy Center, said that education and communication about the harmful effects of social networks need to be promoted in families as well as schools.

Skills on how to protect personal information, prevent the risk of bullying and abuse in cyberspace need to be focused on as a life skill for students in modern times. In addition, questionnaires to assess the risk of internet addiction also need to be developed by psychologists to help teachers identify students with problems.

One of the basic ways parents can do this is to accept and praise their children's positive qualities. Don't compare your child to other people's children or to standards that you want them to live up to.

In fact, family relationships are still the foundation for healthy mental development in children. A shared meal without electronic devices can help parents and children listen and care for each other more. "It is also a way for parents to teach their children about good values ​​in reality outside of virtual space," said Master Thien.

*Character names have been changed