Social media among major factors affecting Mental Health
Abrar A. Mattoo
SRINAGAR, Oct 1: Since mental health has become a serious concern in the era of pandemic, a mental health awareness program was held at Tagore Hall here on Friday.
The event, amongst a score of mental health counselors, was attended by Chief guest Dr. Nazir Mushtaq, author, and psychiatrist, and Mental health counselor Syeda Nida Zehra.
The event was organized by Kashmir Kala Manch, Kashmir’s oldest performing arts theatre, in association with The WatchDog, a media start-up based in Srinagar, and Faith Hope Love Production, an event management company.
While speaking on the occasion, Dr. Nazir Musthaq said that since the pandemic began, the mental crisis around the world has deteriorated across the globe.
He further added, “parental or peer pressure, lack of outdoor activity, bad eating practices, and avid use of social media are some major contributors of the mental health crisis in the world.”
The speakers’ advised the youth to avoid social media as much as possible. They said that a survey has shown that a normal avid social media user has the same state of mind as an individual lodged at a mental asylum in the 1800s.
“Everyone has his own life, his own strengths, and struggles. Seeing other people’s lives on social media, we start to compare our life with other people. This is very bad for our mental health, we see the seemingly successful person on social media, and not the strengths and struggles behind that success,” said Syeda Nida Zehra.
Since the pandemic began, a 20 % increase in the intake of antidepressants was seen across the country. In Jammu and Kashmir, also, a 15 % increase was also seen in crimes, which was majorly attributed to the deteriorated mental health during the pandemic by the experts.
