Net addiction pushing youth to depression, says study

Ravinder Saini

Tribune News Service

Rohtak, August 21

Over 40 per cent of college students are addicted to the Internet and many of them are showing symptoms of depression. This was revealed by a study conducted jointly by the University of Health Sciences (UHS), Rohtak, Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre, (BMHRC), Bhopal, PGIMER, Chandigarh, and AIIMS (Jodhpur, Bhubaneswar and New Delhi).

“The study has shown that Internet addiction (IA) is higher among male students who stay away from their homes. They spend more than three hours a day surfing the Internet mostly at night,” said Jaison Joseph, a faculty member at College of Nursing, UHS. Abin Varghese of the Bhopal centre said, “We analysed 50 studies published during 2010-20 in which students in the age group of 17-35 were surveyed in 19 states.”

The study suggested there was a need to develop a national policy on the use of Internet among young adults. If this was not done on priority, the country would see a large population dependent on the Internet requiring medical attention, said co-investigators Prof Sandeep Grover and Dr Manju Dhandapani of the PGIMER, Chandigarh.

40% college-goers hooked on the web

• The study shows Internet addiction is higher among male students
• Those addicted spend more than 3 hrs a day surfing the Internet
• Many of them are showing symptoms of depression
• Experts call for need to place greater attention on their mental health