Extreme BTS obsession reportedly rounds up 8 Indian teens in psychiatric care

Eight young Indian fans took their love for BTS to a whole other dangerous level. These youngsters’ obsession with the K-pop septet reportedly grew increasingly harmful, leading to violent outbursts, stealing money, and even planning to run away to South Korea. The growing concern has caused parents to send their children to psychiatric care as the only way out of the obsession.

Head of the Psychiatric Clinic and De-addiction Center at Shalby Hospital, Dr. Kalrav Mistry, shared that the incidents have increased in the past couple of months, according to Ahmedabad Mirror.

Shalby Hospital saw eight teenagers being admitted in the last ten days, said Dr. Mistry. He attributed it to the extreme obsession of the septet and the growing desire to adopt their lifestyle.

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“The youngsters are blindly following BTS”: 8 young Indian ARMYs placed in psychiatric care

With the Hallyu Wave taking over the world, India is one of the countries which has seen a rapid increase in K-pop enthusiasts. India was the third highest-streaming country, recording 8.6 million views out of 101.1 million for BTS’ Dynamite in the first 24 hours. It also topped the top 10 countries list, which streamed j-hope’s MORE for two consecutive weeks.

While there is an increase in the number of fans, there are also growing concerns regarding some of them being completely obsessed with the K-pop septet. On July 16, Ahmedabad Mirror reported that eight Indian teenagers were receiving medical care for their extreme obsession with BTS in the psychiatric department.

The report provides information on three of the teenagers’ outbursts. One was a 14-year-old Class 8 student from an international school who listened to the septet 8-10 hours a day and refused to leave her room, eat or sleep. It reached a point where the teenager stole money from her parents and planned to run away to Seoul to marry one of the Dynamite singers.

Another young girl from Vastrapur attempted suicide after her parents took her to a counselor in hopes of ridding her of the K-pop obsession. She reportedly also started doing drugs and taking medication for anxiety.

The third girl residing in Dhrangadhra, a small village, stole money from her parents and enrolled herself in a dance class with a famous choreographer. She went through all that trouble to learn BTS’ choreographies. She became violent and broke her laptop when her parents found out about the stolen money.

Dr. Mistry, Shalby Hospital’s head of the psychiatric department, mentioned that these violent and toxic behaviors should not be ignored and asked parents to notice early signs of obsession in terms of behavioral changes.

“In the past 10 days, we received eight cases and this is a red flag that should not be ignored. Parents need to keep a watch on their children. Most patients are in the 13 to 22 age group."

He added:

"The youngsters are blindly following BTS, adopting their rockstar lifestyle, expensive clothes and all. And to meet these expenses they are resorting to stealing and drugs. By the time parents realize something is wrong, the obsession has reached a different level.”

Dr. Mistry also advised parents to regularly talk to their children, show love and affection, and keep tabs on their online consumption.