Background: Internet has become an integral part of day-to-day life of the university students. It has become indispensable. It gives unlimited access to information; it keeps you updated with the latest techniques and drugs. But internet usage is known to lead to addictive behavior, and Internet addiction threatens to develop into a major public health issue in the near future in a rapidly developing country like India.Methods: A study was conducted in a medical college of 600 students, of which 489 gave consent to participate. They were evaluated using a questionnaire which included an internet addiction scale to assess internet addiction, social phobia inventory to assess social phobia and depression and somatic scale to assess depression.Results: Of the 489 students who participated, 54.4% were females.63.8% had mild internet addiction and only 0,4% had severe addiction. Of those suffering from internet addiction 52.5% of the students were suffering from social phobia. It was found that students with internet addiction had three times the risk of developing social phobia, four times the risk of developing depression when compared with students without internet addiction.Conclusions: Excessive use of internet affects the academic achievements of students. Students addicted to internet are more involved in it and spend more time online than their studies which invariably affects their grades. Seminars and media can play an important role in making people aware of causes and effects of internet addiction.

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Background: Face book, one of the most popular social networking sites, has been a popular time pass activity site. Most of the users log in at least once daily. Some even keep their Facebook accounts online over their mobile phones/android devices throughout the day. Most studies take into account the association of social networking sites and depression in adolescents or school students/college students etc. Hence this study was conducted in adults aged 19years to 64 years.Methods: A study was conducted to determine Facebook addiction and depression in those users aged 19 years to 64 years in India from April 1st 2016 to April 1st 2017. The participants were interviewed through an online questionnaire.Results: This study was conducted among four hundred and sixty nine adults of age nineteen years to sixty four years of which Two hundred and fifty three were males and two hundred and sixteen were females. 64% of the participants were addicted to Facebook. 40.66% (122) had signs of depression.Conclusions: Simple measures like spending time with friends and loved ones, going out for a ride, attending social gatherings, doing activities that release endorphins and decreasing the time spent on social networking sites could help prevent Facebook addiction and depression.

Introduction: With increased integration of technology into medical education, smart phones have become an indispensable tool. Excess exposure to smart phones and its inadvertent use result in adverse health consequences, both physical and psychological. This study was planned to assess smart phone usage pattern and prevalence of smart phone addiction among undergraduate medical students and to identify association between smart phone usage and insomnia. Material and Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduate students of a medical college in Chengalpattu, Tamil Nadu, during January and February 2020. A total of 221 students from first, second, and third year MBBS participated. A Google Form with informed consent, smart phone usage practices, Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version (SAS-SV), and Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS) was used as study tool. Data were summarized as percentages, mean, and standard deviation and appropriate statistical tests of significance applied using SPSS software. Results: Approximately half the students (49.3%) used smart phones for up to 3 h daily. Online videos (37.5%) and social media (34.9%) were the most common applications used; 39.4% skipped night-time sleep to use smart phone. The prevalence of smart phone addiction and insomnia was 23.5% and 30%, respectively. Gender, duration of use, time spent in online chats, and Internet search were significantly associated with insomnia; 51.9% of those with smart phone addiction reported insomnia (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The prevalence of smart phone addiction and associated insomnia are high among medical students. With evolving need for technology in medical education, it is imperative that students are sensitized to rational use of smart phones.