Kite string tangle!

Tuesday morning rescue mission!

Spotted this sweet carnivore trapped in a kite string tangle, in the backyard. Our family effort was just enough to keep him off the sun and we had to call Navy SEALs (Coconut plucker Nimal) to complete the mission. 

Navy Seals arrived after work and cleared the mission in a few minutes. 

I told this fella that I am not going to judge him by what he eats and set him free! 

Finally he decided to pose for a photograph! Showing his injured wing...  

Samandika Saparamadu 
22.07.15

Singapore and India finally found one thing, in common!

The internet has revolutionised the computer and communications world like never before. This global network connecting more than 190 countries and hundreds of millions of computers and devices creates a beautiful virtual environment for people to surf, search, research, get to know each other, meet people and to live in. Yes, to live in a computer-generated dream world. It sounds as if Lilly Wachowski’s (Formerly Andy Wachowski) dream in The Matrix (a computer-generated dream world) is coming true, doesn't it?

According to Internet Live statistics, there were more than 3.3 billion internet users (a person who has access to the internet at home) worldwide, in January 2016, representing more than 40% of global population. We will see how internet usage may affect human behaviours.

There has been a tug of war between the benefits and limitations of this powerful tool, and surprisingly psychiatrists over the last two decades have found more evidence to support the latter.

 

Internet addiction, cyber addiction, internet addiction disorder, problematic internet use or computer addiction is a serious and insidious concern worldwide. According to a research paper published in 2014, the second most cyber addicted country in the world is Singapore, and it is not surprising given that Singapore is a country with internet penetration of more than 80% (of the population) and handful of recreational activities given the vertical distribution of population structure. The country that tops the list of cyber addiction is India. It is quite shocking, isn't it? 54% of the population of India cannot survive for 12 hours without the internet, as per the research. Going off on a tangent: the research paper in question was published by an Indian research agency and it lacks good methodology and diagnostic criteria, which in turn makes it a poor tool to validate and generalise its results.

With many research findings in the literature we can safely assume that internet addiction (IA) is a growing concern in India, given India ranking high up on the list of the most internet-addicted countries in the world. 

IA is still not classified as a psychiatric disorder in "Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders" (DSM) of the US, instead it appears in section III of DSM 5 as a disorder that needs further study and research and which will be considered for inclusion in the main book as a formal disorder in the near future. Psychiatrists predict that the disorder will become equivalent to nicotine and alcohol addiction, and the disease burden could get worse, making it a psycho-social and economic burden in a few years down the pike.

Cyber addiction has a nice and a cohesive classification describing 5 main areas of addiction: cyber-sex addiction, cyber relationship addiction, net compulsion, information overload and computer addiction. As you all know there is nothing much to preach on cyber-sex addiction. Cyber relationship addiction has been found mostly among introverts, and it might be a spurious, non-scientific solution, if you are suffering an “Irish curse” or if you are over scrupulous of physical appearance. Net compulsion is about compulsive online gaming, gambling, stock trading, or the compulsive use of online auction sites including Amazon, eBay, etc.

You would not believe me, if I say that an average Singaporean gamer spends USD 250 per year across all platforms according to a survey carried out by “Touch Cyber Wellness”. Singapore’s total game revenue last year was USD 201.6 million, which in turn makes online gaming a million-dollar business, with "Clash of Clans” generating a turn over of USD 1.8 billion and "Candy Crush Saga" with generating USD 1 billion last year.

Well, these are not interesting facts found on Snapple caps! These are horrifying facts of people becoming human lab rats of a kind.

Information overload could be disastrous to family life and it is diagnosed by compulsive web surfing, leading to lower work productivity and fewer social interactions with family and friends. Computer addiction concentrates on offline computer and smart phone games addiction. Symptoms of addiction can vary from psychological symptoms and signs such as isolation, feelings of guilt, euphoria, falling behind with assignments, falling grades, low mood, anxiety, and withdrawal symptoms (in general), to somatic symptoms such as dry eyes, backaches, neck aches, sleep disturbances, weight loss and even carpal tunnel syndrome (symptoms of CTS).

Griffith’s components model, Young’s Internet Addiction Test (IAT) and Criteria by 'Tao et al' are a few models which scientists, psychotherapists, psychiatrists and doctors use to diagnose internet addiction. Griffith’s criteria of internet addiction provide a good guideline to diagnose this to-be-listed disorder: preoccupation, mood modification, tolerance, withdrawal, relapse, conflict in life, etc. Young’s criteria of IA includes, 1. preoccupation with the internet, 2. the need to use the Internet for increasing amounts of time, 3. unsuccessful efforts to stop using the Internet, 4. mood change when attempting to stop or cut down on internet usage, 5. staying online longer than intended, 6. jeopardising of significant relationships or opportunities due to excessive internet usage, 7. lying about internet use, 8. using the internet as an escape from problems or seeking to relieve bad mood states. This has to be evaluated in the domain of 'non-work related' internet use. Addiction is thought to be present when a person reports experiencing five or more of the above eight criteria, for any given period of time, whereas in DSM, IA is diagnosed if criteria (5 out of 8) are present over 12 months period.

There is a general consensus that total abstinence from the internet should not be the goal of the interventions and that instead, abstinence from problematic applications and a controlled and balanced internet usage should be achieved, which is quite sensible.

Moreover, facing IA could be a challenge for a country like Sri Lanka, with internet penetration at less than 20% and extremely poor internet literacy rates. IA (in the  content of the detrimental effect it has on productivity and economic growth) could be an interesting topic for discussion for a developing country like ours, given the opportunities for expansion of usage and limitations of solid systems. In other words, Sri Lanka’s population growth is about 0.81% per annum whereas the growth of internet users is about 9% per year, which in turn predicts a steep growth in the number of and percentage of illiterate internet users, due to the lack of sensible and achievable policy changes and changes of infrastructure in education. However, increasing numbers of internet users at this rate and quality will open up thousands of opportunities for entrepreneurs while reducing productivity, which will ultimately endanger overall outcome, provided no intervention has been taken to intervene impending issues.

As Stanley Baldwin, British Conservative politician, three time Prime Minister and the man who dominated the United Kingdom government between the two World Wars said, "Power without responsibility, the prerogative of the harlot throughout the ages”. Giving the power of using the internet without teaching ethics and ensuring literacy could encourage addiction as well as it could make people go blind on the difference between freedom of speech and freedom of hate speech.

Don't be afraid to seek professional support if you feel as if you are a victim of the internet. Always remember that the nature has been here for 4.5 billion years (if you believe evolution!), the modern form of human evolved about 200,000 years ago and we enjoyed our childhood at its best in 70s, 80s and 90s and it wasn’t with the internet. Thus, it was certainly more exciting and thrilling than posting a nude photo on snapchat, living in Instagram or waiting for the happy moment of "last seen to online to typing" on WhatsApp. After all, it’s all about you, your health and your happiness; so, give some thought to 'responsible use of the internet'.

Samandika Saparamadu

22/10/15