Representative image.

BENGALURU: A Bengaluru youth severely addicted to online dating apps approached the tech de-addiction clinic at National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences ( Nimhans ) claiming he can’t stick to a single relationship due to excessive dating. The rare case has driven clinical psychologists to carry out an exclusive study on behavioural patterns on dating apps in the Startup City.

The patient, a 25-year-old IT professional with a leading firm here, recently visited Nimahn’s SHUT (Services for Healthy Use of Technology) clinic, seeking treatment for unrestrained use of online dating apps, especially Tinder and Bumble, through which he claimed to have constantly reached out to multiples partners. “He had been using the apps for a while and had reached a stage where it began affecting his work and social life. He spent most of his time on the apps, searching for partners in a quest to kill his loneliness and boredom,” said Dr Manoj Kumar Sharma, professor of clinical psychology and coordinator of SHUT clinic.

The youth had registered on multiple online dating platforms, even paid ones, and meticulously browsed through them to find matches. He found new partners every time and told psychiatrists at SHUT that he was unable to continue with one and would immediately start seeking for others through the apps. He even deleted the apps a number of times in order to overcomer his addiction, but would soon return to them.

“What started as a pastime for him, turned into a full-fledged activity, wherein he ditched crucial office work and meetings with family members to find matches online,” added Sharma, whose team has been attending to the patient in a first-of-its-kind case at SHUT clinic. A few weeks into treatment, the youth has been showing progress with gradual retraction from the online platforms.

Sharma said the techie’s case has driven them into initiating a scientific study on the behavioural patterns of Bengalureans on dating apps, which are a rage these days, mainly among young-adults.

‘Apps used as coping mechanism’

Being on dating apps is not bad, but excessive use leads to isolation from social activities. People often use such apps as coping mechanism to deal with boredom or seek thrill. In this case, it became a recurrent activity with loss of control over lifestyle and disturbance at work

Dr Manoj Kumar Sharma | professor of clinical psychology and coordinator of SHUT clinic

