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Irish politician believes Facebook addiction causes mental health issues

By
CATHY HAYES,
Published Monday, May 31, 2010, 1:08 PM
Updated Tuesday, June 1, 2010, 9:56 PM

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An Irish Minisiter in European Parliament has released a 430-word statement demanding that Facebook come under more stringent regulation within Europe.

Nessa Childers, who was elected to European Parliament from her Leinster constituency last June, believes Facebook to be “clear and present threat to the mental health of millions of European citizens."

She is campaigning to have new laws put in place to  protect Facebook users from becoming addicts. Ireland already has 400,000 Facebook users and it is certain that Childers statement will not be welcomed by most users.

She said “Visiting your Facebook page frequently causes what psychologists refer to as 'intermittent reinforcement'. Messages and invites reward you with an unpredictable high, much like gambling.

"That anticipation can get dangerously addictive. Visiting Facebook rewards you with virtual connections. These connections then expand to fill an increasingly empty internal world, creating a vicious circle.

"We can present on Facebook an unreal and flawless version of ourselves. Many people access their Facebook page once or twice a week. However, for others it has turned into a compulsion."

Childer’s is the daughter of the fourth President of Ireland, Erskine H. Childers. Before entering politics she worked as a psychoanalyst in private practice having qualified in Trinity College Dublin and University of Dublin.

In her professional opinion she said “Action is needed at international level from the EU to properly take on the disturbing trend of addiction to sites such as Facebook, which are responsible for all sorts of problematic behaviour.”
 

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candleforex | Feb 04, 2011, 02:51 PM EST
Nessa Childers, what you politicians have done to Ireland is a bigger cause of mental health issue. Yeah action needs to be done, and the first thing to look at is yourself. Your addition to finding things to do while avoiding the real problem: cronyism and a "world revolves around me" mentality

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liliying | Jun 11, 2010, 09:14 PM EDT
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liliying | Jun 11, 2010, 08:53 PM EDT
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jimmy12003 | Jun 03, 2010, 05:44 PM EDT
politicians in ireland is what is messing up poeples heads, with the sh-ite there trying to do to us!

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FastEddy | Jun 02, 2010, 08:34 PM EDT
430 words? 130 words is enough, then this could have been about twitter.

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KMcSinger | Jun 02, 2010, 05:15 PM EDT
Puhlease? That's just silly!

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Portia777 | Jun 02, 2010, 08:58 AM EDT
She might be afraid that irish people are learning about a whole new world outside catholic Ireland.

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Portia777 | Jun 02, 2010, 08:57 AM EDT
"affects mental health"? It is only her OPINION. That is a dangerous assumption to make on her part, until one looks at her mental programming as a psychoanalyst. Considering these psycho experts have one of the highest rates of suicide, I doubt she is any position to make such judgments. It is like the inquisition days are here again and this time the psychos are the witch hunters.

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1irishpat | May 31, 2010, 05:30 PM EDT
So Facebook is a problem, but the fact that Irish people go out and get drunk about once a week, is not? maybe I am missing something. Deal with teaching Irish people from an early age about drinking and addiction to drugs before sidestepping the major issues and dealing with a minor one like bloody Facebook.

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MalcomAC | May 31, 2010, 02:04 PM EDT
'Affects' mental health.

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