Singapore: Psychiatrists in Singapore are pushing for
medical authorities to formally recognise addiction to the internet and
digital devices as a disorder, joining other countries around the world
in addressing a growing problem.
About 87 per cent of Singapore's 5.4 million population own
smartphones. Singaporeans also spend on average 38 minutes per session
on Facebook, almost twice as long as Americans, according to a study by
Experian, a global information services company.
Adrian Wang, a psychiatrist at the upmarket Gleneagles
Medical Centre, said digital addiction should be classified as a
psychiatric disorder.
"Patients come for stress anxiety-related problems, but their
coping mechanism is to go online, go on to social media," Dr Wang said.
He recalled having treated an 18-year-old male student with extreme symptoms.
"When I saw him, he was unshaven, he had long hair, he was
skinny, he hadn't showered for days, he looked like a homeless man," Dr
Wang said.
The boy came to blows with his father after he tried to take
away the young man's laptop computer. After the father cut off internet
access in the house, desperation drove the boy to hang around
neighbours' homes trying to get a wireless connection.
He was eventually hospitalised, put on anti-depressants and received "a lot" of counselling, Dr Wang said.
"We just needed to break the cycle. He got better, he was
discharged from the hospital and I saw him a few more times and he was
OK."
Tan Hwee Sim, a consultant psychiatrist at The Resilienz Mind
clinic in Singapore, said that the symptoms exhibited by her young
adult patients had changed over the years.
Obsession with online gaming was the main manifestation in
the past, but addiction to social media and video downloading are now on
the rise.
Singapore's problem is not unique, with a number of countries
setting up treatment centres for young internet addicts, particularly
in Asia where South Korea, China and Taiwan have moved to tackle the
issue.
In Singapore, there are two counselling centres – Addictions
Management Services and Touch Community Services – with programs for
digital addiction.
Trisha Lin, an assistant professor in communications at the
Nanyang Technological University, said younger people faced a higher
risk because they adopted new technology earlier – but could not set
limits.
Ms Lin defined digital addiction by a number of symptoms: the
inability to control craving, anxiety when separated from a smartphone,
loss in productivity in studies or at work, and the need to constantly
check one's phone.
AFP
