#AtoZChallenge- Rehab 2020

Over the last two decades, the reach of technology has increased beyond leaps and bounds across the world. The advent of computers and internet to help mankind and make the world smaller, has slowly reached a point of being misused and has also become the cause for various disorders and addictions in the new age. The addition of smartphones, gadgets, hi tech video games have added to the list of addictions. The need for rehab to detoxify oneself is now included with new and tech savvy addictions. By 2020 few of the most common causes could be as the listicle below:

• Social Networking/ Internet- This is no surprise. Internet addiction is nothing new to be cited as one of the causes for the need for Rehab, but the new addition here is the social networking platform. Addiction to social media is becoming a serious issue of mental disorder. The urge of always checking for updates on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc., causes restlessness and anxiety. According to researchers few signs include: spending more than 8 hours a day on social media, constantly checking for views/comments/likes on an update, skipping social interactions just to be up to date with news feed.
• Smartphone- This has aided and gave birth to new age addictions. Social media disorders have been fueled with apps on smartphones. Not just social networking apps, but constant use of internet, the urge to always browse articles, getting a feeling of restlessness without smartphone for few minutes, continuous switching between apps are some of the reasons.
• Video Games: Addiction to video games as a cause for the need for Rehab is not new. But the ever emerging hi-tech virtual reality experiences in gaming has worsened the situation. This is a serious addiction and the cause for various health issues and disorders.
• Selfie Mania: This weird phenomenon of the urge to always take selfies may lead to narcissistic behaviors. Selfie addiction due to self absorbed, self obsessed traits lead to looking for approvals online to motivate and increase self esteem. Taking selfies, posting online, waiting for comments and thinking about them over and over again is not a healthy sign.

Directly or indirectly technology has increased new age addictions and paved way for various mental disorders. As prevention is better than cure, it is utmost necessary to understand the importance of control and check addiction levels before it’s too late.

#AtoZChallenge- Fondness for Fakeness

Ria sat down browsing pictures from her recent couple shoot. She was excited at the number of high definition professional photographs that came out really well. So well, that she had a hard time choosing the best one to post on social media. Though she was immersed in admiring her perfectly posed pictures from the photo shoot, her admiration wasn’t really from within.

She loved the way the DSLR camera captured herself and her husband in cliched poses, but a closer look at the photographs revealed the truth of what was actually missing. They had everything that could make up a beautiful, romantic picture- a picturesque location, perfect clear blue sky, their brilliantly vibrant and rich outfits that were actually in sync with their scenic background. In spite of having the best to produce best shots, the picture didn’t seem complete. Though the couple held each other close to recreate a romantic pose, there was no sign of love in their eyes. The pose couldn’t justify their chemistry nor that they were actually drawn towards each other.

Ria convinced herself of liking her photographs of fake romance. After all, she had a hard time convincing her husband for the shoot on the occasion of their anniversary. Though the couple weren’t really in a mood of celebrating the recurrence of their wedding day, she had to get a photo shoot done, just to remind the world of her marital bliss. She finally posted few of her pictures from the shoot on social media with corny captions and cheesy hashtags.

The next morning Ria woke up to more than 500 likes and hundreds of comments on her pictures. She was elated and smiled at what her friends thought of her and her marital life. She was glad at her projected fake life and the opinions of virtual stalkers. Though her husband showed no interest in the photographs nor in spending time with her on their anniversary, she was content to have found her happiness in fakeness.

Quarter Life Crisis- #AtoZChallenge

Once out of college, life is hard. People realize that it’s no longer colorful, unlike the student days. It is sometimes too hard to take in when hit with the harsh realities of life. What you expected life to be while you were stepping into the real world, is not what you get. Being naive only makes this blow feel even harder, thus leading to stress, anxiety and unnecessary fears. Welcome to Quarter Life Crisis!

You may have had a blast making wonderful memories during the most happy days of your life. But now, you realized you had so much fun that you hardly payed attention to prepare yourself for the future. You watched all your friends leave to pursue their dreams of higher education or a job at a multinational company, while you are still unemployed. With increasing competition, you are unsure if your skills and capabilities are of any good. You are worried and stressed about your future.

What if you had a job at one of the nation’s best firms? Having a job at your dream company was something you would not have asked for anything more! But whenever you see your friends abroad post pictures with their BMW s or about vacations in Hawaii, you feel like shit! Your inner conscience does no good by sounding, “What the hell am I doing here in this cubicle, while that fellow who was no good at college is going places?” The same job that you prayed for to get into, no longer appears worthy enough!

Okay, now you are living abroad! Living the fancy life that your friends dream of. All they know about you is through the photos you post on Facebook or your selfies on Instagram. You wonder, if they even care for you beyond your posts. While they envy your foreign lifestyle, you keep working your ass of to meet the ends and retain grades, so that you don’t get kicked out of the country. “What’s gonna happen if I fail? Will I ever get a job if I go back, with that competition? May be I should have stayed back home with a job like my friends. At least they are close to their families and enjoy home food”, a thought that never stops echoing. Meanwhile, your ex and all your friends are either getting engaged or married. Few of them start having babies. A  bunch of them are celebrating their anniversaries or baby’s first birthdays. And you my friend, are still struggling for a degree and survival in a foreign land. This increases the existing stress levels adding to a feeling of loneliness.

You may not necessarily fall under the above bracket. You may have a vision, an idea that could change the world or at least make lives easier. You quit your fat paying job to pursue this vision of yours. You have a good team, clear ambition but lack financial help. Your failed trials of getting sponsors or financial support from all valid sources is delaying this whole vision thing. Your parents feel you are running behind the impossible when it’s time for settlement. Continuous failures with no glimpse of success makes your supporting girlfriend apprehensive. “What if this doesn’t work at all? It will be too late for everything”, she keeps reminding. You can neither concentrate on your vision nor go back to your good old job. What if you lose your girlfriend in the process of chasing your dream? Too many questions with no answers. All you do is panic!

Quarter life crisis is an outcome of intense stress levels and mental disturbances caused mostly by unsatisfied career, relationships  or a feeling of failure during the age of mid 20s. The ever increasing sharing, tweeting, posting phenomena going around, only adds to make this crisis even worse! Internet was meant to connect people for whatever reasons. But most of them stay connected not to keep in touch, but to be aware of what is going on with others lives! Too much awareness leads to inspecting one’s own life while comparing it with others. Comparison leads to dissatisfaction, a feeling of failure, anxiety thus adding stress. Sometimes it gets so worse that it leads to depression and prolonged sadness, which are born out of no big misery. People in this age bracket fail to acknowledge the fact that each and everyone is going through the same sick, stressed life for reasons unknown. The posts on social networking spaces are not the reflections of their true lives.

Each one is fighting through this crisis so bad, that they end up pretending as though everything is alright. Sometimes knowing you are not the only one, helps. After all, this is just a phase! Time often comes to the rescue and you will get used to this reality by the time you hit 30!