Overdependence on virtual world dangerous, troubling – mental health professionals say

Wil Campbell

Overdependence on the internet, especially by young children, creates developmental challenges, a false sense of connectedness and a vacuum where there should be crucial conversations, even as the young continue to be bullied in the virtual world.

These sentiments were expressed by psychologist Wil Campbell, who is the founder of Solutions Training Consultancy and Counselling Services, and Kerese Collins, who did psychology and counselling along with theological studies at the undergraduate level, a master’s in counselling psychology on a Chevening Scholarship, and has qualified as a psychotherapist. They have both worked with children and young people. They both acknowledged that while there is a lot of good to be derived from the internet, too often there is overdependence which can be dangerous.

Too many young children have technological devices on which they can spend hours, much to the delight of their parents who manage to get things done. There are also many young people and even older ones who make the virtual world their reality and this is also dangerous.

In the wake of the death of an 11-year-old boy whose mother believes he hanged himself because he was mimicking what he saw on the internet, a platform he spent hours on and which she now believes he was addicted to, the Sunday Stabroek sought of the views of the two professionals.