Ghaziabad Tragedy: Psychiatrist Urges Psychological Autopsy After 3 Minor Girls Die By Suicide Over Korean Game

Let’s not blame the Korean game alone for the tragic death by suicide of three children at Ghaziabad.

A psychological autopsy is a must. It will help understand different processes. The game may have been the last straw on the camel’s back; one does not know.

Tips to parents

1. Warning signs to watch for
Staying indoors, not meeting friends, bunking school, a fall in grades, being occupied with gadgets for long hours are some symptoms of craving. Do not move from punitive discipline to indulgence, which parents normally do. Meet their favourite relative, teacher, or counsellor.

2. Emotional distress and screen dependence
Sad children or disturbed children gravitate towards screens. Kids who have trouble with studies or parents seek refuge in games also. If so, identify these symptoms and seek help. Treatment of stress and depression helps in moving away from screens. Parental counselling is important. In disconnected families, reel life becomes more important than real life.

3. Importance of physical play
Right from early childhood, teach children to play with their hands and feet and not their fingers. Do not sacrifice play on the altar of marks and mindless tuition classes.

4. Seek immediate professional help
If any child talks of “running away, feeling hopeless or worthless, feels like being a burden for parents or on the earth, wanting to die”, parents need to rush to a mental health professional instantly.

5. Managing severe gadget addiction
If a child is intensely addicted to gadgets, it is important to separate the child from the gadget through hospitalisation in a mental health facility. Forcefully disengaging them can have disastrous consequences.

6. Call for regulation and accountability
The Government of India should go the Australian way. UNESCO, in its report Technology & Education, has flagged the issues of gadget addiction. Social Media & Youth, a publication by the former Surgeon General of India, has clearly stated that addiction causes depression, anxiety and suicide.

Many federal court cases have been filed by several states in the USA against Meta. The Senate has unequivocally told Mark Zuckerberg that he has blood on his hands. Social media platforms are predatory and addictive.

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