Higher expectations and lower level of satisfaction are increasingly undermining people’s mental health in the age of Internet and social media. As the World Mental Health Day was celebrated on Tuesday, psychiatric consultant Anees Ali, who works among Keralites in the State and the Arabian Gulf, expressed concern at the rise in mood disorders of people owing to disappointments from high expectations.
“High expectations in tune with wider exposure to the social media are becoming a bane of our society, where people have started to measure everything, including gifts, from price value. Inner values are getting increasingly relegated to the margin,” said Dr. Anees, pointing out innumerable examples of mental tensions in marriages and other social relationships.
He said the demanding nature of parents, often based on misconceptions, was wreaking havoc not only among students, but among teachers as well. “We see parents demanding explanations from teachers for the lost marks of their children. And those parents who never cease comparing their children fail to understand that the real problem lies with them,” he said.
