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Psychiatric wards in Korea filled up with depressed teens and 20-somethings (www.chosun.com)

submitted 7 months ago by m1tank@lemmy.world to c/world@lemmy.world

20 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Shin (14), a middle school student in Daegu has been addicted to gaming for years. He stayed up all night in his room playing games. He was always late for school, and his friends teased him, calling a “game otaku(maniac)”. Shin blamed himself for being “someone unnecessary.” Late last year, he was diagnosed with severe depression and tried to be admitted to a psychiatric ward at a university hospital, but there were no vacancies, and he was only admitted this month.

“The 30 closed wards at Severance Hospital, which used to house adult schizophrenia patients, are now filled with teens and 20s,” Shin Yee-jin, a professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at Severance Hospital, said on Jan. 29. “Most of them have become so depressed that they have attempted self-harm and suicide.”

The number of teens and 20s suffering from depression, self-harm and other mental illnesses is on the rise. According to the National Health Insurance Corporation, there were 13,303 psychiatric hospitalizations for teens and 20s in 2017, or 14.6% of all patients. But last year, the number rose to 16,819 (22.2%), an increase of nearly 10 percentage points in five years.

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[-] Haagel@lemmings.world 51 points 7 months ago

Almost anything can be addictive, but some things are explicitly designed to be addictive. I don't think that young kids are capable of regulating their gaming addiction. Someone needs to intervene, most likely the parents.

[-] MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz 52 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Games have become so dialed in on pressing all kinds of dopamine buttons, a lot of adults can't regulate their gaming habits.

There's a lot of exploitative mechanics that have no point beyond fiddling with people's hind brains that could be outlawed at a governmental level.

Beyond that, I agree, parents need to stay on top of their kids, as they always have. But video games along with tech in general has become a way to make a kid keep to themselves for hours, so they don't bother you, and a lot of parents are taking this easy way out, at the expense of the development of the child.

[-] Toes@ani.social 24 points 7 months ago

Most of the people in my circles are internet refugees. Practically raised by the internet, parents left them alone on the computer as long as they were quiet.

[-] MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz 14 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

It's honestly just actual child neglect. Tying up your kid in the basement also stops them from complaining. A pacified kid isn't automatically a healthy kid.

[-] Toes@ani.social 7 points 7 months ago

Yeah I completely agree. Most of these people have serious issues that they will suffer with for life. Just because it was bad to interact with their folks.

[-] jennwiththesea@lemmy.world 5 points 7 months ago

For my generation, it was mostly TV. Same for Xers and Boomers, though they were also allowed to roam with no adult supervision. The habit of neglecting children is ingrained in our society, and computers are just the newest method.

[-] Krauerking@lemy.lol 5 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Yeah l think, honestly, one of the biggest issues we have is society giving less time to children and letting the digital babysitters get more and more control.

It takes a village to raise a kid but no one is allowed to tell anyone that they are wrong anymore or hold a consistent view of reality. And it's sooo easy to just put a kid in front of a screen.

Parents don't want to "give up their lives" to raise kids anymore and need them to be quiet or decoration. It's just getting worse.

[-] EssentialCoffee@midwest.social 4 points 7 months ago

You act like 'children should be seen and not heard' was in the distant past.

[-] Krauerking@lemy.lol 3 points 7 months ago

And yet they were also expected to participate in what their parents were doing and that was in social settings which meant being around and not disruptive.

Which like has its own issues but at least they weren't handed the talking screen and headphones and told to catch up later. There has always been neglectful parents but there is a difference.

[-] lolcatnip@reddthat.com 17 points 7 months ago

Who says the gaming addiction is the cause of their depression? It could be a symptom.

[-] photonic_sorcerer@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 7 months ago

Addiction is often a symptom of depression.

[-] PopOfAfrica@lemmy.world 16 points 7 months ago

IMO, It's not all video games that are addictive. It's typically the online multiplayer ones that are deliberately designed to be addictive. Those need heavily regulated.

Notice nobody is addicted to Mario Wonder, but many people are addicted to say Overwatch.

[-] grue@lemmy.world 8 points 7 months ago

It's any game with microtransactions, in-game currencies, or generally rewards you can grind for. Such games are literally Skinner boxes.

[-] Cosmonauticus@lemmy.world 41 points 7 months ago

What kind of shit is this?!? They should be studying!! /s

In all seriousness this was a bygone conclusion. Korean (honestly most Asian countries) society places WAY to much emphasis on education to an obsessive degree. Your middle school entrance exams shouldn't dictate your entire life. For an 11 year old to experience that kind of pressure im surprised theres not cases of adolescent PTSD from scoring low on exams.

[-] T156@lemmy.world 20 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

For an 11 year old to experience that kind of pressure im surprised theres not cases of adolescent PTSD from scoring low on exams.

It'd be surprising if there wasn't, but it was just underdiagnosed, considering that there have been cases of people being driven to their own deaths, because they didn't score as high in the exam as they needed/wanted, and that the attitude towards mental health is a bit dated in areas.

[-] GONADS125@feddit.de 17 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

That is absolutely ridiculous.. Our brains don't even finish developing until our mid 20s (some research suggests it can take an additional few years for those with ADHD).

My school performance (with ADHD) was so much different in middle and high school than thru undergrad and now graduate school.

It's totally asinine to put that kind of pressure on kids, especially when standardized tests don't even accurately evaluate learned material.

[-] Krauerking@lemy.lol 11 points 7 months ago

Yeah but we need these kids to be super computers that squeeze more productivity out of one singular person than ever before... Otherwise how are we gonna keep those profit margins?

Just jobs for the savants, everyone else is worthless. We all need to be robots for our overlords already and if you aren't, have you tried taking drugs to get you closer to one?

[-] Yewb@kbin.social 38 points 7 months ago

Dude if I was in Korea I would be depressed too these guys have such limited futures and the highest of tech is replacing them with AI and robots already.

[-] kemsat@lemmy.world 12 points 7 months ago

Considering what I’ve heard of Korea, I’m surprised the suicide rates aren’t higher.

this post was submitted on 01 Feb 2024

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