Prof. Nevzat Tarhan: "Social media addiction affects not only individuals but also society"

Stating that the addictive effect of social media is defined as behavioral addiction and is defined in classification books, Psychiatrist Prof. Nevzat Tarhan expressed that "Social media addiction has become more visible as we see people who cannot access Instagram, who are in serious crisis and share outrageous posts on other social media platforms."

President of Üsküdar University and Psychiatrist Prof. Nevzat Tarhan evaluated the addiction caused by the negative psychological effects of social media.

The addictive effect of social media

Stating that social media addiction is considered as behavioral addiction and that this addiction creates serious changes in people's brains, Prof. Nevzat Tarhan said that "We have seen the addictive effect of social media very clearly with the recent crisis on Instagram. Social media addiction has become more visible as we watch people who have gone into serious crisis after not being able to reach Instagram and posting wildly on other social media platforms. Families were noticing this situation in their own circles; however, we can see the extent of this more clearly on social media. People, especially young people, make outrageous speeches and ridiculous posts as if their lives have no meaning."

Social media and behavioral addiction...

Stating that the addictive effect of social media is defined as behavioral addiction and is defined in classification books, Prof. Tarhan said that "For example, just as gambling addiction is not like substance addiction; however, it is social media addiction. This type of addiction disrupts the brain's reward system. Normally, the paths in the brain's reward system are like pathways, while the reward system paths in the brain of addicted people are like highways. This area of the brain produces and converts more serotonin and dopamine, and when this is stopped, people go into crisis. In the literature, this condition is referred to as 'reward failure syndrome'. People want more rewards because they cannot get enough of them, which disrupts their judgment in a way. They begin to behave impulsively and uncontrollably, and they are more likely to make mistakes. Just like with substance abuse, uncontrolled use and withdrawal symptoms appear. For example, these withdrawal symptoms are experienced in the form of nervousness. In fact, we had to develop a scale called 'Fear of Missing Out' (FOMO) years ago."

Fear of not being able to be online

Noting that the fear of not being able to be online causes a fear of not being able to connect to the internet at the destination, Prof. Tarhan stated that "This situation increases the level of anxiety. Regarding this, we developed a scale called 'FOMO' (Fear of Missing Out). This scale is used to measure the prevalence of such cases. It especially affects young people. Currently, the 12-19 age group is severely affected in this regard. What happens as a result of this influence? Young people's activities of daily living are disrupted, and they skip school. They become unable to think of anything else, their social interactions are disrupted."

Social media has also changed the way they do business

Explaining that social media has changed the way adults do business, emotional sharing, romance tools and even consumption habits, Prof. Tarhan said that "It affects political participation as well as shopping habits. Wars are now taking place in cyberspace. The UK set up a social media brigade in 2015. This brigade is a unit created to develop battle strategies on the Internet. Even the necessity of establishing ministries to combat disinformation has been raised.”

There are even hospitalized cases in the treatment of social media addiction

Prof. Tarhan said that "Social media addiction affects not only individuals but also society," and Tarhan stated that "The social effects of social media addiction have also started to emerge. Having a one-week access problem to Instagram had a different effect, especially on people who were addicted. People who are addicted are more affected because they cannot get the pleasure they get from Instagram from other things. Interestingly, there are even hospitalized cases in the treatment of social media addiction. Being deprived of social media for a week makes some people give up this addiction."

They urinate in a plastic bottle

Stating that people who are addicted to social media generally do not see themselves as addicted and say, "I am not addicted", Prof. Tarhan expressed that "However, just like other addictions, they start to face the consequences of addiction because they do not see themselves as an addict. These consequences include behaviors such as not going to school, neglecting self-care, waking up late, not brushing teeth, and neglecting bathroom and toilet needs. We see such cases that, especially in game addiction, people use plastic bottles in their rooms to urinate because they do not want to waste time while playing. Such addictions can enslave people to the point of captivity."

In advanced cases, clinical treatment is required

Pointing out that clinical treatment is required in advanced cases, Prof. Tarhan stated that "However, two types of situations emerge in mild cases, when we investigate who has more social media addiction. First, if family ties are weak, time spent together is low, and there is no warm and loving environment in the family, these people turn to social media as a stress relief method. When something is depressing or making you feel unhappy, social media gives you temporary happiness. This temporarily relaxes the person and makes them addicted to social media. Social media gives a different kind of happiness at that moment."

 

Üsküdar News Agency (ÜNA)