BHOPAL: Addicted to playing Free Fire online game, a schoolboy was admitted to a hospital in Sagar's Malthon with behavioral disorder. Family said that for the past few days, the boy was only playing this game and had hardly slept.
The 17-year-old was admitted to a local hospital after he started behaving “in a strange manner” with the family. For some time, the boy was continuously handling mobile phones because of online classes and gradually got addicted to online games. He is a son of a small-time trader.
His mother said that she had often seen him playing the game on mobile. She said for the past some time, he would cry to find the game in all the objects he come acrosswhether a watch, a glass or cup, she said.
Now in even cold drink bottles, he looks at the game. "He would push away the cold drink bottle saying there is no game in it," his mother said.
Dr Vikrant Gupta at the government hospital of Malthon said, “the boy seems to have been indulging in online gaming on phone for long hours. He has not taken sleep properly and looks sleep deprived.”
The doctor said that he was under observation and may be referred to a bigger hospital if his situation does not improve.
Bhopal-based psychiatrist Dr Satyakant Trivedi said that online game addiction is also a mental illness and it needs to be handled carefully. He said the addict shows the same level pattern that is seen in a drug addict. Like drugs, the online game addict is also dependent on the game and a gradual withdrawal from the game is recommended.
