Teen suicides go up in Kerala; is digital addiction the reason?
Sixteen-year-old Jeeva Mohan, an eleventh-class student at Navayikkulam in Thiruvananthapuram, was found hanging from the ceiling in her bedroom at noon on June 5. The police found a three-page suicide note in which she wrote that she could not come out of her digital addiction. She used to watch music bands like BTS, the Korean band and she spent hours and hours on screen. She had no friends. Isolated, depressed and guilty of her declining academic score, Jeeva opted for the extreme step. In her last words to her mom in the suicide note, she requested not to provide a mobile phone to her younger sister.
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Jeeva’s case is not a one-off incident. According to the data tabled by the Chief Minister in the assembly, 25 children committed suicide between 2019 and July 2022. These cases were formally recorded by the police as suicides triggered by digital addiction. The immediate reasons vary from case to case, according to experts. In some cases, children fall into depression, in some other cases, children copy what they see in games and videos. There are even cases where children took their lives for being trapped in financial fraud.
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Fourteen-year-old Akash, a student of class 9 at Irinjalakkuda in Thrissur district, lost some money in mobile games and took his life, fearing being reprimanded by his parents. In November 2021, Akash was found missing and later, his body was found in a pond near the house.
The issue of ADHD
Do the excess use of data and extended hours on screen lead to suicide among children? Experts say not necessarily. “Digital addiction itself cannot be a reason leading to suicides. In our studies, we have found that children falling into digital addiction have multiple vulnerabilities — either family problems or disorders like ADHD (Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder),” says Dr T V Anil Kumar, the head of the department of psychiatry at Thiruvananthapuram medical college. Dr Kumar, who headed the study on suicides among children in Kerala, told The Federal that ADHD was found to be the most common problem among children who fall into digital addiction and which could lead to suicide in some cases.
Jeeva Mohan, the girl who took her life for being unable to come out of digital addiction, had a tragic past. Her father committed suicide five years ago. However, local people remember her as a jovial and studious girl who was good at studies. “She was very good at studies till the tenth standard. She scored an A plus grade (90 per cent and above) in all subjects. Before the pandemic, she used to mingle with people. I had not met her frequently since last two years,” recollects P Biju, the panchayat member who knew the family closely.
According to experts, connecting digital addiction and suicides triggered by it directly to the pandemic need not be right, at least in the case of Kerala. It is a reality that the screen time of children has increased exponentially, but it would be too early to say that it has been the sole reason for suicides. Kerala’s data does not corroborate such theories. For example, the number of children who committed suicide in Kerala from March 25, 2020 (the day the lockdown started), till July 8, 2020, was 66. Compared to the previous year, the lockdown period showed a decline in the cases of suicide among children. In the same period (March-July) in the previous year, 83 children had taken their lives.
‘Digital devices essential’
“Digital devices and internet have become an essential component of our lives,” says 16-year-old Naveen, a student of class XI, whose favourite past-time is playing games and watching movies and serials. Naveen thinks that the very term ‘digital addiction’ is problematic. “When parents blame the children for having addiction to devices and internet, they are pushing them into guilt, inducing stress. The children get the wrong idea that they have fallen into a serious condition which is incurable. They have the tendency to connect all their failures to the addiction, as blamed by parents. This might lead them to taking the extreme step,” Naveen told The Federal.
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Naveen also says the process of ‘de-addiction’ is also wrong. “We should give up such terms as addiction and de-addiction and have to learn to accept digital devices as part of life. Children should be trained to use their time in a productive manner instead of demonising whatever is digital,” says Naveen.
According to experts, there are multiple factors that lead to suicides triggered by addiction to digital devices among children. Multiple vulnerabilities lead to the excess use of mobile phones and extended hours of internet use. “There is an urgent requirement to educate the parents. Most of them are poor in digital knowledge, which also is a huge hurdle in understanding the troubles being faced by children,” says Dr Kumar.
(Suicides can be prevented. For help please call Suicide Prevention Helplines: Neha Suicide Prevention Centre – 044-24640050; Aasara helpline for suicide prevention, emotional support & trauma help — +91-9820466726; Kiran, Mental health rehabilitation — 1800-599-0019, Disha 1056, 0471- 2552056, Maithri 0484 2540530).
