CYBER PSYCHOLOGY: Need of the hour

 CYBER PSYCHOLOGY: Need of the hour

Superfi cially it has connected us but in real sense it has led to detachment. Relationships have gone for a toss

BY: BISMA FAROOQ SHEIKH

sheikhbismafarooq@gmail.com

We live in a world of liberation, independence &  empowerment! 

This is but our biggest delusion. We are the worst ever victims of enslavement. We are slaves of something that we never leave alone and that is our mobile phone. 

Sweet seem its taste but our time does 

waste. Lovely it looks in our lap but this is the biggest trap. 

This is what breaks the psychological principle of No two individuals 

are alike. Fortunately, or unfor-tunately, we all are in this trap; only degree and intensity of our addiction differ. Internet Addic-tion, in particular and mobile 

phone addiction, is a disorder and we all have this to some extent ;however exceptions are 

always there. Disorder is any-thing that affects a person’s social ,educational or occupa-

tional life. Doesn’t our mobile phone fall in that category. Doesn’t it affect our social life. 

Doesn’t it connect us with a person who is miles apart but disconnect us from person sit-

ting next to us; Doesn’t it affect our personal and occupational life. Superfi cially it has connect-

ed us but in real sense it has led to detachment. Relationships have gone for a toss.Internet has revolutionised 

education, business and medi-cal care. None can deny this 

fact. Everything is at our fi nger tips. With a single click we can download books, we can book 

tickets, we can order things, we can assess any information we need; we can get news updates 

from every corner of globe; but above all it has added to our mental burden. We all are 

having a minor form of OCD (obsessive compulsive disor-

der). Our mind always remains obsessed with thoughts that on 

my fb /whatsApp account some-one may have texted me, some-one may have uploaded some-thing, somebody may have liked 

or commented on my post; this 

creates FOMO (fear of missing 

out) and to reduce these obses-

sions we are bound towards 

compulsions (repetitive actions 

to reduce obsessions). We check 

our phones frequently, every 

ten minutes.

School and college going 

students are worst hit by this 

menace. It has put their social, 

moral and academic career at 

stake; There are many students 

who are not able to focus on lec-

tures just because their mind 

is preoccupied. some resist the 

temptation while some start chit 

chatting during lecture.

Some young buds have devel-

oped features of narcissism 

(unrealistic self love); they keep 

on capturing selfi es and upload 

it on social media to get appreci-

ation for their beauty and looks.

Many develop depressive 

features just because people 

don’t like the pic/post they 

upload or they don’t get 

ample likes or their friend 

list isn’t that much lengthy as their peers. Some have become 

addicted to watch-ing filthy items 

on internet as it’s freely accessible and 

nobody is there to stop them. It has 

taken a heavy toll on their moral 

development. It has affected their 

social life. They prefer isolation. 

Even if they sit with family, they 

don’t know what’s going on around them; what 

they are eating. They don’t interact with family members. 

Their lifestyle has become sed-entary. Healthy hobbies like 

book reading, gardening, play-ing games have gone.Not only this, mobile phone 

has ruined many lives. Many 

teenager boys and girls fall in this trap. Some unknown person 

sends them friend request, start chit chatting and then show 

them castles in air and they are 

gone. They use 8 letter password 

I Love you to rob their hearts for ever. They then lament and 

repent and unfortunately they can’t share this to anyone.

There are many girls who sent their pics to unknown 

boys, so called fb friends, and they then misused them. Who 

is to be held responsible? There 

are some genuine people. Every-one isn’t going to dupe us but we 

can’t trust everyone. It’s high time for parents to keep check 

on their children. What they surf, with whom they chat, how 

much time they use internet.Widespread use and easy 

accessibility of internet has led to inter-

net addiction, online gaming 

disorder, infomania, increase in cyber crimes, cyber bul-

lying, cyber pornography & other psychological issues like 

sleep deprivation, depression, impulsivity, anxiety especially 

among youngsters thereby it is high time that cyber psychology 

should be started as a course in colleges and universities & 

more and more researches be conducted on cyber behaviours 

so as to help people in curtailing 

the time spent online and sensi-tize them about netiquettes, and cyber security

“Life is too precious to be 

wasted in being hooked to social networks like Facebook, insta-

gram, snapchat. Let’s use inter-net for infotainment but not let it 

lead to derailment. Spent leisure 

time in healthy hobbies like read-

ing, exercise, art and prayers. 

Above all don’t forget to spend 

time with family. Let’s try to cur-

tail our virtual time from today 

and feel the difference. ”