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Curse of social media: Videos of violence driving people up the wall, to psychiatrists
Many people have approached psychiatrists at Motilal Nehru (Colvin) Divisional Hospital with complaints of suffering sleeplessness and depression because of them
Video clips on social media depicting violence are having a negative impact on people.
Many people have approached psychiatrists at Motilal Nehru (Colvin) Divisional Hospital with complaints of suffering sleeplessness and depression because of them. Other people have also cited watching clips of people drowning in recent flash floods on social media as a cause of their anxiety, informed psychiatrists.
Shikha (name changed), 13, of Jhunsi, started behaving abnormally soon after video clips of the murders of Atiq and his brother, Ashraf, went viral on social media. Shikha used to scream in her sleep, had breathlessness and fell unconscious quite often. Her parents approached psychiatrists at Motilal Nehru (Colvin) Divisional Hospital when other doctors declared her physically fit.
Counselling by psychiatrists at Colvin revealed that Shikha was in shock after watching the video clips of the sensational murders of Atiq Ahmad and Ashraf which caused anxiety in her, doctors said. Shikha’s parents were advised to keep her away from the mobile phone and television for some time.
In another case, a couple from Pritam Nagar area approached psychiatrists after lawyer Umesh Pal’s murder on February 24. The 36-year-old woman developed extreme fear after watching videos of Umesh’s murder. The incident has instilled so much fear in the woman that she stopped venturing out of her house, which incidentally, was not far from spot where the murder took place, and even restricted her husband and children from going out.
“At least 40 such people have approached us after the murders of Umesh Pal and Atiq and Ashraf in April,” says senior psychiatrist at Colvin hospital, Dr Rakesh Kumar Paswan. The patients belonged to all age groups, but a majority were women. Most of them complained of anxiety, breathlessness, sleeplessness, depression, suffocation, fear, etc after watching these viral videos of violence.
Some even confessed of having dreams of firing, crude bomb explosions etc which made them spend sleepless nights and even made them unconscious, Dr Paswan said.
“A week back, a woman approached us with complaints of having dreams in which she felt herself drowning. It came to fore that she watched videos of flash floods that went viral on social media,” Dr Paswan added.
Doctors suggested that videos of violence – on social media or elsewhere – should be shunned, and to tackle anxiety, yoga and breathing exercises should be practised.
