Institute treats first case of Netflix addiction in India
After treating a patient for “Netflix addiction,” India’s National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences have reported the first case of its kind in India.
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In 2018, it is easy to binge-watch shows and movies on Netflix until the wee hours of the morning. However, have we ever felt like it could go beyond our typical urge to satisfy boredom? A mental health hopsital in India certainly thinks so.
According to CMBC, the average Netflix user will stream 50 minutes of content per day. However, the unidentified man that checked into the institution claimed to be watching at least seven hours of content.
Manoj Kumar Sharma is a psychologist working in the Service for Healthy Use of Technology branch. He claims that the man was using the streaming service to cope with problems. The patient’s addictions resulted in eye pain, bad sleeping patterns and fatigue.
“Whenever his family pressured him to earn a living, or when he saw his friends doing well, he would watch the shows on offer continuously,” Dr. Sharma says in a story with The Hindu. “It was a method of escapism. He could forget about his problems, and he derived immense pleasure from it.”
Sharma also concurs that Netflix and other streaming services could be the “adult version” of video game addiction that is commonly seen in youngers kids.
While the World Health Organization classifies “video game addiction” as a mental health disorder, Netflix addiction is not, yet.
New Dehli’s The Print suggests that instead of turning to Netflix and other streaming sites as a coping mechanism, we should practice standard breathing exercises and go to counselling.
