Schoolchildren in Ahmedabad are reporting BTS obsession that needs the intervention of trained psychologists and counsellors. Interestingly, of the schoolchildren requiring expert help for their obsession, 70% are girls.
As the numbers surge, many reputed schools in the city are stressing on counselling and psychological help for their students. Earlier, Mirror had reported about the surge in cases in Shalby Hospital, of students who needed intervention from psychiatrists due to BTS obsession.
Dr Kalrav Mistry, a psychiatrist at the Shalby hospital, said after the Ahmedabad Mirror report about school children’s unhealthy obsession with K-Pop band BTS, the number of cases has surged further. He said they get about 5 to 7 cases of BTS obsession per week.
“Over 15 kids have come seeking help for their BTS obsession in the last 10 days and almost 70% of them are girls,” said Dr Mistry.
He added that a well-known school in Bopal recently caught three students in Classes 9 and 10 trying to jump off the roof of the building over their BTS obsession. However, the school’s alertness helped avoid a tragedy.
The children were brought for counselling after the school began to investigate the cause of the unusual behaviour and zeroed in on BTS obsession. Several parents are also relooking at their kids’ obsession with BTS bands and reaching out to seek more information and help as they were earlier unaware that it could be addictive, he said. Many schools are also roping in full-time psychologists to help students.
He said students addicted to the pop band need special counselling on use of social media, online video games and pop bands.
Dr Ajab Primuswala, a psychologist at a well-known school near SG Highway, said gadget addiction was on the rise following a surge in online education. “ Now, the proliferation of Korean pop bands is affecting children. Recently the band performed live at 4 am and many children remained awake to watch the performance live online,” said Dr Primuswala.
She said interestingly many students have also learnt the Korean language in their obsession with the K-Pop Band. The school recently held a session to address such addiction as it is important to openly discuss such issues. “During the recent discussion, we addressed the students in small groups and talked about BTS. It helped us identify students obsessed with the band,”
Talking about why more girls are obsessed with the band, Dr Mistry said BTS Band’s music, lyrics, dance and even members seem more feminine and perhaps that is why it attracts teenage girls so easily.
“Also the songs of this band are publicised as ones that are anti-depressant and promote self-love,” Mistry said.
Girls obsessed with the band are particularly addicted to selfies, social media, Whatsapp, and Snapchat while in boys it also manifests as addiction to gaming, particularly wargames. He said it often makes boys aggressive and violent.