Mental Institutions Treat Facebook Addicts

The Vrapce psychiatric hospital is getting more and more patients who suffer from Facebook addiction, which can be very dangerous.

ZAGREB, CROATIA - Zagreb’s clinic for addictions in the psychiatric hospital Vrapce, has been receiving more and more patients for treatment, or rehabilitation from Facebook, the most popular social network on the internet, writes Vecernji List.

As the psychiatrist Ante Bagaric who works at the addiction clinic in Vrapce explains, people become addicted because of the pleasantness, and because Facebook is pseudo-communication, it is suitable for people who have trouble communicating in the real world, so they become addicted.

Whilst people communicate on Facebook, they have total control over the conversation that they lead, and when it becomes unpleasant or unacceptable for them, they can simply open a new window and start communication with some other person.

Bagaric said for Vecernji List that he considers that finding friends from the past via Facebook is fixing our image in their eyes, but stresses that it is not natural, because people grow up and according to that they seek and change friends that suit their current personality.

Also, Bagaric warns that Facebook can be a dangerous media because of the lack of control over it, which allows psychological patients to fulfil their fantasies that they do not have the bravery to achieve in real life. This can lead to the occurrence of the most serious offenses, because those people cannot differentiate reality from virtual reality.