Signs of Facebook addiction you need to see a doctor immediately

More and more young people are addicted to Facebook.

Dr. Phuong told the story of a 14-year-old boy whose family brought him to the doctor because he had a seizure after his parents forbade him from using Facebook. This boy had a history of using social media 10 hours a day (while eating, sitting on the toilet, or any free time), was withdrawn, lazy to communicate, and showed signs of paranoia.

More and more people are dependent on Facebook. Photo: Internet.

“Having his phone confiscated caused him to have a narrowed reaction and have seizures. When I examined him, I discovered he had delusions and hallucinations. He said he always had a “voice” in his head, sometimes a man’s, sometimes a woman’s, telling him “you have to play,” Dr. Phuong recounted.

Recently, the Central Psychiatric Hospital 1 also received a female patient, NTTH (18 years old), who was brought in by her parents in a very special situation. Seeing that her child was addicted to Facebook, H.'s parents cut off the internet and prevented her from accessing the internet. The patient reacted violently, smashing things, fighting back against her parents, forcing her family to drug her and take her to a mental hospital.

Dr. To Thanh Phuong, Deputy Director of Central Psychiatric Hospital 1, said this is a typical case of depression due to social media addiction.

The patient’s family said they had noticed unusual signs in their daughter for the past 4 months. Their daughter was no longer a good and diligent student, but had changed her personality, became withdrawn, did not socialize with friends, and her academic performance declined.

“Even on November 20th, when friends invited me to visit my teachers, I didn’t go. When it was time for meals, I didn’t come down to eat.nightuntil 2-3am or go to the bathroom and turn off the lights just to surf the net.

At the peak, I discovered my daughter was skipping school and staying home with her phone surfing Facebook. My wife and I advised her but she didn't listen so we immediately cut off the internet. Unexpectedly, my daughter reacted violently, smashing things in the house, getting angry, and scolding her parents.

We invited a psychologist to our house but were unsuccessful because our daughter did not cooperate, claiming she was not sick. We had no choice but to drug her and take her to the hospital," the patient's father shared.

According to Dr. Nguyen Doan Phuong, in reality, treatment experience shows that many psychiatric patients admitted to the hospital are related to using Facebook for many hours a day. Patients are brought in because of depression, schizophrenia, hallucinations... after treatment, patients do not use Facebook as much as before.

For pediatric patients who come to the clinic for psychiatric symptoms, medical history shows that many children use Facebook 4-5 hours/day.

You should see a doctor immediately if you have the following symptoms:

Dr. Nguyen Doan Phuong recommends that when you or your family members see that your children have tried to cut down on Facebook usage but failed (feeling an increasing urge to use it; becoming restless or having trouble if banned from using Facebook); you use Facebook so much that it has had a negative impact on your work/study, you should go to the hospital immediately because Facebook addiction causes many disorders in the body.

Many people have difficulty controlling the time they spend on Facebook, neglecting all their previous pleasures; affecting activities at work, studying, maintaining relationships with family and friends in real life... are signs that they are dependent on Facebook and causing many consequences from only caring about the virtual world, Facebook addiction causing eating disorders, sleep... aggravating mental symptoms.

Dr. Phuong recommends that adults need to supervise their children in using Facebook and social networks. Even adults need to use it reasonably, should set rules and schedules to only use Facebook at certain times of the day.

Especially for young children, take them to the park, create more fun activities so that they do not immerse themselves in TV, iPad, or get addicted to TV, Facebook... causing many health consequences.