Teens seek psychiatric help for BTS obsession

Fall everything, fall everything, fall everything,” the chartbuster by South Korean BTS Band has gripped teenagers in the city, so much so that they are losing their sleep and mind over it.
BTS (aka Bangtan Boys or By The Sea), the band behind bestsellers like ‘No more dream’, ‘Kiss me’, ‘I don’t care if it hurts’, ‘Dynamite’, and ‘Permission to dance’ with over 8 million hits are taking the city by storm and landing some pop music addicts on the psychiatrist’s couch.
Eight school-going children from the city, who are part of the ARMY – as BTS fans call themselves – were brought to the psychiatry department of Shalby hospital in the past 10 days. The addiction is so severe that teenagers have been spending over 8 to 10 hours listening to K-pop. A 14-year-old Class 8 student of an international school got so addicted that she would stay cooped up in her room, refusing to eat or sleep properly and spend her entire time listening to BTS music either on her phone or laptop.
A single child, her working parents initially ignored her penchant to spend one or two hours listening to music. They sought help when it became obvious that it had become an obsession and had altered her behaviour.
She got so obsessed with the band members that to follow their lifestyle, she began to steal money to buy expensive clothes and accessories similar to the band members.
She had dreams of marrying one and even had plans to run away to South Korea.
The shocked parents eventually had to seek psychiatric help.
Dr Kalrav Mistry, Head of Department of Psychiatry clinic and de-addiction centre, at Shalby Hospital told Mirror said that cases of BTS band obsession have increased in the past three to four months.
“In the past 10 days, we received eight cases and this is a red flag that should not be ignored. Parents need to keep a watch on their children. Most patients are in the 13 to 22 age group,” said Dr Mistry.
He said the peer pressure around the band is high as children are expected to be updated about everything that BTS does to be considered cool.
“The youngsters are blindly following BTS, adopting their rockstar lifestyle, expensive clothes and all. And to meet these expenses they are resorting to stealing and drugs. By the time parents realise something is wrong, the obsession has reached a different level,” Dr Mistry said.
In another case, a girl studying in a reputed school in Vastrapur attempted suicide by consuming pills when her parents took her to a counsellor to get rid of her BTS obsession. The girl began to take drugs and needed medicine to control her anxiety. She sometimes needed to be restrained to prevent her from running away.
Calling it Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Dr Mistry said teens blindly try to ape the stars and begin to associate with the band members’ life so dangerously that they think of it as their life story.
In another case, a girl from Dhrangadhra, a small town began to steal money from her house and approached a high-end choreographer to teach her to dance as the BTS band members did. When her parents confronted her, she became violent and broke her laptop and other things and had to be forcibly taken for counselling.

How to avoid it
Dr Mistry said parents should look for physical and mental changes in children. He said in most cases, parents are working and have little time for their children. He advises parents to ensure an emotional connection with their kids and not replace it with a digital connection.
l    Parents should be aware of what children watch on Youtube and other sites. Look out for red flags like changes in behaviour.
l    Take out time to regularly talk to their children.
l     Children need love and affection from parents and it cannot be replaced by digital and physical things.

Youngsters are blindly following BTS, adopting their rockstar lifestyle, expensive clothes and all. By the time parents realise something is wrong, the obsession has reached a different level
–Dr Kalrav Mistry, Shalby Hospital