Prof. Nevzat Tarhan: “The easy accessibility of social media poses a risk”
President of Üsküdar University Psychiatrist Prof. Nevzat Tarhan was the live broadcast guest of TGRT News. Tarhan made remarkable evaluations on the subject of “Gambling Addiction”. Emphasizing that predisposition to gambling addiction is linked to dopamine levels in the brain, Tarhan stated that the risk increases even more when there is addiction in the family. Tarhan stated that the easy accessibility and appeal of social media put young people at greater risk of cyber gambling and games of chance.
President of Üsküdar University and Psychiatrist Prof. Nevzat Tarhan made evaluations on the subject of “Gambling Addiction”.
“If it runs in the family, young people to risk”
Emphasizing that predisposition to gambling addiction is linked to dopamine levels in the brain, Psychiatrist Prof. Nevzat Tarhan stated that the risk increases even more when there is addiction in the family. Tarhan stated that “Games played with money such as gambling, betting, scratch tickets and stock exchange pose a risk especially for young people. If there is someone in the family who plays such games, young people are under this risk more easily. They are one group. Another group cannot manage dopamine in their brains. These people are genetically sensitive. The dopamine enzyme level in the brain is high and they become addicted to dopamine. They are prone not only to gambling but to all addictions. For example, there are some people who play a little every day and never get addicted, but if some people have this predisposition, they start and cannot stop themselves. Some candidate genes have been identified. We are investigating whether there is a genetic predisposition in treatment-resistant addicts.”
Uncontrolled social media use poses a great risk...
Stating that the easy accessibility and attractiveness of social media puts young people at greater risk of cyber gambling and games of chance, Tarhan expressed that “social media is very effective. The fact that social media is easily accessible, cheap and 24/7 availability creates a risk. Young people are more at risk after Covid. The attractiveness and charm of social media, the fact that it is played by hiding the identity, and that is what leads young people to this. These games of chance are mostly in the form of cyber gambling. It is very difficult to limit and control it legally. Uncontrolled social media use poses a great risk. If young people use social media uncontrolled, all young people are in the risk group...”
“Gambling leads to the expectation of pleasure”
Stating that young people may become more prone to gambling addiction due to weak bonds within the family and the negative impact of social media, Tarhan emphasized that this situation can negatively affect people's everyday lives. Tarhan stated that “If there are no social boundaries and social norms in the family, gambling provides pleasure very easily because gambling causes the person to expect pleasure. After gambling, the person wants to play again to regain the money they lost. They even start lying to the extent of claiming that they have won money from gambling even when they have not won. They think there is nothing wrong with them, they say 'I am in control'. The everyday lives of these people start to deteriorate. They start to leave school, classes and their everyday lives because of this. Social media is currently the biggest risk area for playing games of chance. If family bonds are weak, if not everything can be discussed within the family, and if the child has friends who are bad role models, such children are also in the risk group. Therefore, if the danger of a child here was one percent 20-30 years ago, now it has increased to five percent. If mothers used to spend half an hour with their children before, now they need to spend an hour for healthy and positive communication.”
“Modernism leads young people to a pleasure-oriented philosophy of life”
Stating that modernism glorifies a pleasure-oriented understanding of life and that leads young people to seek quick satisfaction by making them more prone to consumer culture, Tarhan said that “Modernism has created a hedonistic philosophy of life. In other words, it made the pursuit of pleasure an ego ideal. It glorified living in pleasure. Modern life has changed concepts such as good or bad, worthy or worthless, and right or wrong by saying 'what you like is good, and what you do not like is bad'. This is known as the pleasure principle in the field of psychology. The fact that the pleasure principle has been chosen as the purpose of life to this extent has made young people much more vulnerable in terms of quick gratification. In other words, the older ones could be more controlled according to the culture they inherited. They could say no. Family bonds used to be stronger. In other words, people would immediately notice it if someone turned to gambling, and the whole environment took precautions, gave advice and set a limit. Now family bonds have weakened. The transmission of culture is no longer done by families, but by social media. This has changed the truth. Young people glorify wealth because they glorify pleasure. Wealth and lust become their purpose in life. In such cases, they fall into pleasure traps more easily. There is the consumer economy and the entertainment industry that triggers these feelings in young people. There is cultural imperialism. We are voluntarily exploited by this cultural imperialism. Young people have become voluntary victims of imperialism.”
The role of dopamine in gambling addiction
Speaking about the causes of gambling addiction, Tarhan concluded his remarks as follows: “Most of the time, it is a thrill-seeking, and most of the time, it is a pursuit of pleasure. Sometimes they gamble as a stress reduction technique. They get depressed about something, they say 'gambling is good for me' and they continue to play. There is treatment if the person wants it. In the treatment, if the people they live with and the family are aware of this issue, we involve the family in the treatment. In these people, the brain wants more dopamine. These people try to fulfill that pleasure through gambling. We teach them to fulfill the brain's need for dopamine over time. This is present in all addictions. Therefore, the human brain is more stimulated by unexpected rewards than by expected rewards. Expected rewards are the monthly salary. The unexpected reward comes from a place you never expected. Since these addictive substances activate the area of the brain related to unexpected rewards, they produce several times more pleasure and if people glorify that pleasure, they make it their reason for life to achieve that pleasure”
Üsküdar News Agency (ÜNA)