Ivory Tower: Digital addiction behind increasing familial conflicts

A relationship between a daughter and her father is almost godlike, reverent and yet in Radhika Yadav’s case, it turned out to be malignant. It depicts more about our society than we can imagine, and how imperative it has become in today’s time to address our collective mental health issues.

Advertisement

JPS Bhatia, a neuro-psychiatrist, with three decades of experience in the field of addiction psychiatry, MD in psychiatry and a mental health advocate, observes social media approval and social disassociation amid increasing familial conflicts. Over a decade, Bhatia has conducted multiple studies and wrote research papers on how digital media has had a divisive role to play in the institute of family.

“In my experience, the problems usually start early in childhood and are often neglected to the point of explosion, where damage becomes irreparable. Societal pressure and denunciation, family reproval, misleading information, dysfunctional and toxic home environment all come together to form a vicious circle affecting one’s mental health.

Sadly, people deeply believe that their problems are not resolvable. However, it is all brain chemistry going wrong. In a rage of impulse, neurotransmitters (chemicals) in our brain rapidly start firing in the limbic system (animal brain), causing an uncontrollable, strong reaction led by regret and pain later. Around 80% of the people in such cases commit a life-threatening act against themselves, and the other 20% end up killing those around them. Before the crisis unveils, a mental health professional can recognise red flags that we either fail to notice or try to resolve with our common sense,” he notes.

He states that in eight of the 10 cases that he sees every day, they are somehow linked to addiction. “It could either be digital addiction or addiction for approval. As a society, we are connected to the world, but are profoundly disconnected from ourselves, from our families. The need for approval, fear of missing out, minimisation of one’s action, low sense of self-worth with the coming age of social media have become so heightened that we have become desperate and disassociated. Society at large is consuming unfiltered content, has developed malfunction coping mechanisms, causing psychological outbreaks. How far can we all go till we realise the importance of mental health? Every child I treat, and every parent I counsel, communication is the essence.”

He says what were once happy homes are now brooding with silence. “It is a pressing need that we understand the true value of our emotions and realise how regulating them appropriately is necessary. Many times, actions that are habitually overlooked and considered normal are outrightly alarming and need attention, like aggressive outbursts, troubled relationships, fragile self-esteem, lack of empathy, victimisation, inappropriate shifts in mood. No matter how small a problem may seem, timely psychological intervention can resolve it before it’s too late.”