bengaluru when dr manoj kumar sharma set up an internet deaddiction centre in bengalurus nimhans psychiatric hospital four years ago he barely saw a patient a week today we get at least five to six cases every day he says of the services for healthy use of technology shut clinic that runs a 21day programme to wean people off devices and screens its not cause for cheer for sharma but an indicator of the fact that indians are increasingly tied to their screens and that some of them are realising that they need help with itto a large extent it is young adults in the 1620 age group who are internet addicts these are kids whose parents can afford to buy them gaming consoles and smartphones says sharma associate professor of clinical psychology the reasons for addiction are wideranging from lack of playgrounds to being a single child with both parents at work sometimes the child hasnt been exposed to going out and playing with other of his age so they just become comfortable playing games by themselves says varghese mathew clinical psychiatristintrainingsharma says one patient would take more than 500 selfies a day an indicator of social anxiety looking good on social media is integral to being popular now he says and this can result in anxiety and obsessive behaviourall of us use the internet to whatsapp or log on to social media almost every day the way we assess if its a problem is when it impacts normal everyday interactions mathew explains are you shirking work or bunking classes to stay online is there a compulsive behaviour to check your phone in a way that it affects your interactions with others to put it in more technical language sharma and team determine an addiction based on four cs craving control compulsion and consequencesafter diagnoses comes treatment an addiction to the internet is different from dependence on alcohol or drugs we use the internet every day everyone is part of whatsapp groups you rely on emails for work basically the phone is a ubiquitous part of our lives and so asking patients to not use it at all is not practical mathew saysthe regular course of treatment is 21 days if it is a young adult counselling involves the parents we listen to what they have to say because to a large extent addictive behaviour is a symptom of something else mathew says while most of them end up being outpatient cases there are times when we ask the patient to be admitted says sharmathe clinic has treated more than 250 people in the last four years they are counselled about healthy use of the internet and are allowed controlled use of internet he says patients are encouraged to take hobby classes and develop other interests build emotional connections in the real world and weaken those with the virtual onewhether its children or adults whats common to patients is their irrational dependency on the net its