Smartphones and Internet may be putting your child's mental health in jeopardy

Easy access to harmful sites on the Internet and cyber bullying raise red flags for child psychotherapist

The number of young people being admitted for mental treatments since 2010 has rapidly increased. Julie Lynn Evans, a psychotherapist for over 25 years now, is grateful for the additional funding being sent into mental health services, but she believes the dilemma stems from the use of smartphones and easy access to the Internet at young ages.

MUNTINLUPA, PHILIPPINES (Catholic Online) - Seeing that her colleagues have been experiencing a similar increase in workload, as well as the figures reported from hospitals and clinics, Evans speculates the root may be from something more dangerous, painful and immediate.

"Something is clearly happening because I am seeing the evidence in the numbers of depressive, anorexic, cutting children who come to see me. And it always has something to do with the computer, the Internet and the smartphone," she said.

She talked not only about cyber-bullying, which is present, but also of the pattern in change attributed by the popularity of these technologies over the recent years. It was noted that about 80 percent of school age children have these, as Evans called, "pocket rockets."

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Internet is easily accessed nowadays by anyone and it's observed that the access is usually without adult supervision, unlike family TV viewing.

"There are difficult chat rooms, self-harming websites, anorexia websites, pornography, and a whole invisible world of dark places," she said, on what may be causing the distresses. She asks parents to be active in guiding their children on "traveling" into the internet, making it a point to ensure they are safe and away from these harm-inducing sites.

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