ZAGREB, 3 Oct (Hina) – Loneliness and Internet addiction will become leading mental health problems in this century, psychiatrist Marijana Braš warned ahead of the 12th International Congress on Person-Centred Medicine, which opens in Zagreb on Thursday.
“We share the fate of the world. We are finding it increasingly difficult to cope with what the uncontrolled use of the Internet and the playing of computer games by young people and children has brought us. This, among other things, will be discussed at the congress,” Professor Braš, president of the congress organising committee, told Hina.
She said that some new diagnoses encountered by modern psychiatry are being defined, and they are caused by the negative influence of social media, fake news and living in virtual reality.
WHO: Internet addiction among young people should be treated like tobacco addiction
“The leading problems in psychiatry are no longer depression and anorexia, but Internet addiction, neurodevelopmental disorders, loneliness and psycho-oncology. We are facing a big change for which we must be prepared and answer the questions of how to control the use of the Internet by young people, how to ban it in school, how to prevent them from watching child pornography,” Braš said.
She recalled that this week the World Health Organisation proposed that Internet addiction among young people should be treated like tobacco addiction. In Croatia, there is still no plan to fight against Internet addiction, and there are more and more young addicts, she noted.
Loneliness is also increasing among young people, who withdraw from society so that they literally do not leave the house for days. This phenomenon of extreme social isolation was first identified in Japan in the late 1990s and was called “hikikomori” syndrome, which in Japanese means “inward withdrawal”.
“People will become anxious and depressed. Young people will develop ADHD and autistic spectrum disorders due to living in a virtual world where they become addicted to social media, fake news and conspiracy theories. This will also be discussed at the congress,” Braš said.
The congress is taking place at the Andrija Štampar School of Public Health from 3 to 5 October. It will include a number of symposia focusing not only on psychiatry but also on the complete care of various patients. Among the topics discussed will be care for patients with sensory disorders, patients with chronic non-communicable diseases, such as hypertonia and cardiovascular diseases, and palliative patients, with the emphasis on a holistic approach to treatment.
