Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Mental health deterioration among children in the age group of five to ten years has come to pass as parents of such children are thronging hospitals and clinics. Doctors in the city told Free press that mobile phone addiction has gripped children who are spending more than seven hours per day on screen and turning cranky.
Some of them are facing even dire mental blues such as turning aggressive, violent and abusive. Renowned psychiatrist of the city, Dr Manish Borasi, said he alone has witnessed 37 such cases in the last one month at his TT Nagar clinic.
He further said that the parents are also failing to keep a tab on the kind of videos their children are watching, which has given rise to hypertension among them. Other doctors, wishing anonymity, said apart from mental blues, excessive mobile phone usage is also inflicting harm on children’s physical health.
One of them said a seven-year-old kid, studying in Class 2 at a private school, has refused to go outdoors for physical activities and keeps himself hooked to mobile phone for long hours. He was diagnosed with diabetes and weight gain issues.
The kid turns violent whenever his parents take away his mobile phone. In another such case, a nine-year-old child in Kolar of Bhopal became addicted to watching horror videos on his mobile phone and later developed a delusion that he was possessed by an evil spirit. He is currently undergoing counselling sessions by two psychiatrists.
Parents resorting to homoeopathic treatment: Dr Diwan
Another psychiatrist of the city, Dr Sanjeet Diwan, said parents of such children subjected them to allopathic treatment. They, however, did not find the situation ameliorating, owing to which they have resorted to homoeopathic treatment. They should also make the children learn to keep mobile phones as well as other electronic devices at bay for some time.
