New Delhi: You won’t see this on the evening news. Not because it isn’t happening, but because it’s happening behind bedroom doors, in hostel rooms in Kota, in PG accommodations across metropolitan cities. While American teenagers struggle with Instagram filters and college stress, Indian youth are trapped in something far darker, and we’re barely talking about it.

A 19-year-old cleared NEET with a 1475th rank. AIIMS Gorakhpur was waiting. His entire family celebrated. Then he was found hanging from the ceiling. His suicide note read: “I don’t want to be a doctor. I want to do business.”

He didn’t fail. He succeeded. And success killed him.

This isn’t an outlier. This is the new normal.

Kota in 2025: 10 student suicides so far. Last year, 19 cases. The year before, 29. These are reported numbers.

In Lucknow, a 13-year-old boy died while playing Free Fire. In Madurai, a 17-year-old gaming addict broke his phone, jumped from a building, and texted a friend: “Take care of my parents.”

Here’s what terrifies psychiatrists most: the thousands of teenagers right now, at this moment, sitting in dark rooms, playing games until 3 AM, their eyes bloodshot, their minds slowly breaking, and nobody’s stopping them.

Internet Gaming Disorder affects 3.5 per cent of Indian school children. Among late adolescents aged 18-21, it’s 8 per cent for boys, 3 per cent for girls. But the prevalence is climbing.

A 19-year-old in Hyderabad lost 40 lakh rupees on cricket betting apps. His family borrowed money. His friends loaned cash. Within six months, he was buried in debt. He spent months in rehabilitation. Within weeks of leaving, he relapsed. That’s not recovery. That’s a trap.

In Hyderabad right now, behavioural addictions have shifted from “mild, outpatient issues” to severe psychiatric emergencies requiring hospitalisation.

A 15-year-old porn addict locked himself in his room. When his phone was confiscated, he started hallucinating the same content. He eventually lost partial vision from obsessive behaviour and stress.

A 15-year-old. Lost his eyesight from screens.

De-addiction centres report: “By the time these kids come to us, they’re anxious, isolated, sometimes hallucinating. Parents think it’s ‘just a phase.’ It’s a psychiatric emergency they’re ignoring at home.”

American teenagers are drowning in social........

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