For most people, social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter are a great way of staying in touch with friends and family.
However, there are a growing number of people who are getting hooked, and find themselves spending an unhealthy amount of time on the sites.
In some cases, people are finding that their addiction to Facebook is causing genuine problems either at work or at home.
These Facebook addicts now have a place to get the help they need to restore more balance to their lives after a clinic was opened in Dublin.
Psychologist Jason O’Callaghan is the man behind the service and insists the addiction is a very real problem for some.
He told TheJournal.ie that with social media now being so readily available to people since the rise of the smartphone, some have fell into the trap of being “literally online constantly” through fear of missing out on something new.
“People are becoming increasingly addicted to social media because it is so freely available, even smokers or alcoholics can’t do it all the time but those addicted to social media live on their phones.”
O’Callaghan has set up the service after noticing that several of his patients were dependent on Facebook and spent several hours at a time on the site.
The rise in social media has created various threats to people’s state of health according to O’Callaghan, with weight gain and online bullying also major concerns.
The Facebook addiction sessions will use methods such as counselling, cognitive therapy and clinical hypnotherapy to treat patients. They will take part at the D4 Clinic in Dublin, which also offers help for issues including insomnia, depression and anxiety as well as various hypnotherapy treatments.
