Are you a netcase?

Even if half your answers are in the affirmative, theres a good chance that you are becoming an internet addict. According to an estimate, 5-10 % of the online population worldwide is web dependent. They are hooked to online cyber sex, pornography, multi-user online games, e-shopping, social networking and surfing and they do so at the cost of all other activities.They dont know it, but they suffer from a new clinical condition called IAD Internet Addiction Disorder.
The west is already grappling with it. Studies are being conducted to find out the extent of the problem and its effect on the brain. Last week, it was South Koreas turn. The country, which has an internet penetration of 80%, opened its first rehab clinic for Net addicts.
What about India Some may argue that IAD is no threat here, given that internet usage stands at just above 7%. But estimates suggest that it may go up to 20% soon with the introduction of 3G services. Considering Indias population, 20% (240 million) means a number far bigger than South Koreas 80% (total population 48 million). Experts warn that India may already have a fair number of IAD victims although the problem is not even recognized as a psycholgical ailment here.
Pune-based behaviourial psychologist Neema Khurana, who counsels students in several schools and colleges in the educational hub, says that the problem may not be widespread in our country, but theres enough reason for worry. I have come across serious cases in which teenagers dont leave the house, dont have interpersonal relationships, and are always trying to isolate themselves from everything else to sit in front of their computer screens. I was shocked when I met a 19-year-old who would only speak in the language of the characters he played with on an online game, she says. The problem is mostly prevalent among teens and pre-teens but no institution in India has taken it seriously enough or tried to conduct any studies or estimates on internet addiction.
Psychologists say people who live in a highly wired environment or have too much time on their hands are particularly at risk. Conversations with a randomly selected group of schoolchildren, teenagers and professionals reveal that most of them are online for long hours, often at the cost of their sleep. But they dont see anything wrong with it. Mansi Mehra, 27, a senior marketing executive at a real estate firm in Delhi, says her sales job is stressful and she doesnt get time to go out and meet friends. I spend three-four hours every day on social networking to stay in touch with them. I also do a lot of shopping online. So in four hours online, I manage to do what I would do in 10 hours offline. Mehra admits she cant do without this routine. I get irritated on days my internet doesnt work.
Unlike drugs or alcohol abuse, people addicted to the Net may not show any symptoms in the beginning. In many cases, their Net identity becomes their primary identity and the real world around them gets hazy. In South Korea, alarm bells began to ring when a 41-yearold man and his 25-year-old wife were arrested last year after they left their baby daughter to starve to death at home while they played an online game on child rearing in an internet cafe.
Alarm bells are ringing in different parts of Asia, which is fast emerging as the new frontier of the internet revolution. According to Ciscos annual Visual Networking Index, the worldwide internet traffic will quadruple and reach 80. 5 exabytes per month (80 exabytes would fill 20 billion DVDs) by 2015. That year, for the first time, Asia will generate more traffic (24. 1 exabytes per month) than North America (22. 3 exabytes per month). In China, they already have specialist clinics for internet addicts;in the UAE, a team of researchers has asked educators and parents to ensure that youngsters develop healthy habits when using modern technological devices;and in the Philippines, authorities are now working on measures to address online gaming addiction among children.
But India is still in sleep mode. Given the highly competitive environment, many students see the internet in general and online gaming in particular as a means of improving their mental skills. Chaitanya Banerji, a Class VIII student, spends more than five hours a day online. The teachers expect us to know everything about everything. Where else will I find all the information So I keep looking up interesting topics and read about new things and learn new words. At the same time I can play games with my friends. Since I can play while I learn, studies dont seem boring.
Varun Agrawal, 18, who has just completed Class XII, admits to surfing the Net till 3am every night to find out about the right courses and colleges. Hes online for 10-12 hours a day, watching movies, chatting or simply reading about cars and bikes. Varun younger brother Karan, who sleeps by his side, complains that sometimes, Varun even dozes off in front of his PC. . . He doesnt get up to eat and bullies me to get his food to his desk and always makes excuses when the family wants to go out.
Varun may be a classic example. The typical Net addict goes so deep into the cyberworld that he loses touch with real people and situations around him. The Second Life becomes their real life. Khurana says an addict doesnt realize this. When does an addict say he is an addict, she argues.
In fact, IAD itself remains a controversial diagnosis, with experts differing on whether or not its a true addiction. Dr S K Khandelwal, senior professor of psychiatry at AIIMS, refuses to call it an ailment that needs prescription. From time to time, parents bring their schoolgoing children who spend unusually large amount of time online and we counsel them and suggest measures to gradually reduce their time online and do other activities. Its just conselling, I never give them any drugs. But he admits he knows some psychiatrists who prescribe anti-depressants to young adults for Net addiction.
But if its a problem that requires counselling or medication, why isnt it being taken seriously in India Khandelwal offeres an answer: Here we are so busy with patients suffering from serious mental ailments that we have no time and resources to deal with subsidiary psychological problems.
The irony is that both neurofeedback and transcranial magnetic stimulationtreatments being used in clinics abroadare available in certain Indian hospitals. But no one has bothered to apply these processes for the treatment of Net addiction. This, despite the fact that theres scientific data which suggests that too much time on the internet leads to shrinking of the human brain.
With internet penetration likely to increase manifold, India may see brain drain of a different kind in the near future.