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Jakarta Post

The pandemic in waiting: Internet addiction

As the government pushes for greater internet penetration in the post-pandemic world, policymakers should take a brief time to reflect.

Lee Thung Sen (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Mon, January 18, 2021

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The pandemic in waiting: Internet addiction

T

he COVID-19 pandemic has invaded both our physical bodies and social life, the very nature that defines us as humans and societies—hugs, handshakes and gatherings. The resulting digital transition has led to accumulating concerns globally and in Indonesia regarding exorbitant internet use.

The government was caught off guard and rushed to implement policies to curb COVID-19. Some evidence-based policies have transiently worked, including public activity restrictions (PPKM) and large-scale social restrictions (PSBB).

It is a godsend that our technological advancement has allowed us to connect and perform our daily tasks through the internet. But will such a serendipity occur twice? The government had failed to mitigate a pandemic scenario, they must not fail twice to have the foresight of another possible pandemic in tow: internet addiction.

The internet has provided many benefits, but it is not faultless. Hidden drawbacks of the internet loom large, from cyberbullying and hoaxes to internet addiction. Internet addiction is the excessive, repetitive and compulsive use of the internet that leads to psychological, social and physical impairment.

As the government pushes for greater internet penetration in the post-pandemic world, policymakers should take a brief time to reflect. Digital media maneuvering should not be expected to come as naturally as one is expected to breathe since birth. It requires practice and guidance, just as much as one requires guidance to speak a language.

In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) incorporated gaming disorder and other nonspecific addictive behaviors within the newest International Classification of Diseases. According to Kristiana Siste, head of the Psychiatry Department at the University of Indonesia and a member of the WHO task force on addictive disorders, the progress was driven by the ubiquitous health and social burdens from internet addiction among the global population, particularly adolescents.

The unease is mounting during the COVID-19 pandemic, with youths accessing the internet for extended periods.

“Some time into the pandemic, we begin seeing a spike in the number of patients, particularly adolescents, coming in due to their problematic gaming and internet usage,” said Enjeline Hanafi, a psychiatrist from the addiction clinic at Jakarta’s Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital. She added, “For them, the internet is no longer a source of joy, instead it agonizes them to the extent that some resort to self-harm—which is alarming.”

Undeniably, the time spent on the internet has skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on a recent study led by Kristiana on over 7,000 respondents, the average Indonesian adolescent had an increase of around 56 percent in their daily internet usage to nearly 12 hours a day. The same study revealed that the prevalence of internet addiction almost quintupled during the pandemic.

Those surfing the internet for mainly entertainment purposes, i.e., for gaming and social media, are twice more likely to suffer from internet addiction than those whose main purpose is academic/work.

Kristiana highlights that the study found no direct correlation between self-quarantining/PSBB and internet addiction. However, she notes that those with COVID-19 cases within their household were 1.5 times more likely to suffer from internet addiction, which may be mediated through depressive symptoms, anxiety and sleep perturbation.

The new year may usher in new hopes, but let’s not turn it to reckless confidence. The reasons are twofold: Indonesia has appointed a new health minister, Budi Gunadi Sadikin, and has rolled out nationwide COVID-19 vaccination.

Budi is the first health minister hailing not from the health sciences but considered capable of bringing in fresh perspectives and solid management to the seemingly disarrayed Health Ministry. Mass vaccination is not a silver bullet as even after the program, which is targeted to cover 70 percent of the country’s population in 15 months, the standard health and prevention must be enhanced for us to escape from COVID-19.

The new health minister should know that according to the WHO Mental Health Atlas 2017, the WHO Southeast Asian countries, including Indonesia, spent only 0.1 percent of their health expenditure on mental health per capita and Indonesia had 0.3 psychiatrists for every 100,000 people. To put it into perspective, with an internet addiction prevalence rate of 15 percent, a psychiatrist has to handle 50,000 addicted patients in Indonesia.

Post-pandemic mental health management is then crucial and groundwork should start now, given the country’s poor mental health infrastructure. Many Indonesians have succumbed to the enormous pandemic stress and turned to conspiracy theories to ease their anxiety. Admittedly, the stress from the pandemic accumulates even among the best of us and many will self-medicate with available addictive stimuli, including the internet.

The Health Ministry should collaborate with other ministries to educate the public through the virtual transition and prepare prevention for vulnerable individuals. In this regard, Kristiana and her group, under the auspices of the COVID-19 Research Consortium of the Research and Technology Ministry, are currently preparing a prevention handbook.

The government should also consider establishing a separate national body focusing on mental and addiction health care, which other countries such as South Korea, China and the US have done. For too long we have been neglecting the rising threat of internet addiction.

Indeed, the pandemic has reminded us to spend more on research, education and training so that we can keep up with the ever more globalized and digitalized world — both physically and mentally. Policymakers must remember that what they do or not do will affect future generations.

The future landscape of Indonesia’s mental health care will improve if we dare to act. To reform, innovate and advance.

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The writer is a general practitioner at Bintaro community health center, South Jakarta and a research assistant at the Psychiatry Department of the University of Indonesia’s School of Medicine.

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