Kids Using Facebook Suffers From Anxiety Problems

Children as young as eight are being treated for anxiety problems triggered by social networking sites like Facebook, according to psychologists. They said modern technology is producing a growing number of children needing therapy to deal with distress arising from posts on Facebook and other sites.

Darryl Cross, a clinical psychologist from Crossways consulting, said that the anxiety caused by technology is a growing concern.

"Modern day technologies and social networking sites are contributing significantly to child and adolescent anxiety. It is an international phenomenon," the Daily Telegraph quoted him as saying.

He said children were using social networking sites such as Facebook to determine their identity and form a view about what society thought of them.

"I know many children are rushing home to see what people are saying about them on their Facebook wall," Cross said.

"So that creates a trigger for these anxieties of how am I connecting, how am I relating, and do they like me, am I getting on with others, do they think I am silly or stupid," he said.

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Elizabeth Seeley-Wait, clinical psychologist at The Children's Psychology Clinic who specialises in childhood anxiety, said childhood was a growing concern.

"I am seeing kids who as a form of punishment have had their mobile phone taken away from them and that leads to anxiety about being out of touch or out of the loop," she said.

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Source-ANI