Üsküdar University Founding Rector, Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, was a live guest on the 'Gündem Özel' program with Gülden Kalecik, broadcast on TGRT Haber. Tarhan made evaluations regarding 'Social Decay, Societal Decay, and Recent Events.' Stating that family ties weaken with the deterioration of social and moral norms, Tarhan pointed out that as a result, young people are drawn to addiction. Emphasizing that addiction policies need to be re-evaluated, Tarhan said; “We must focus on increasing the quality of life for young people. Young people turn to substances as a stress reduction technique.”
“Addiction Emerges as Family Ties Weaken”
Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan stated that family ties weaken with the deterioration of social and moral norms, pointing out that as a result, young people are drawn to addiction. Tarhan said; “We cannot produce effective solutions without analyzing why such problems arise. There are two main important areas here: one is family, the other is addiction, substance use. The weakening of family ties, the blurring of parental roles, the inability of social structures in society to protect the family, and the inability of family and moral norms to protect families and young people are important reasons. The disintegration of social and moral norms plays a very important role here. The inability of parents to know how to act towards their children in this new and changing world plays a crucial role. The other negative impact is addiction, which arises from the weakening of family ties. Currently, addiction policies need to be re-evaluated. Work is currently being done on addiction.”
“We Must Focus on Increasing the Quality of Life for Young People”
Stating that addiction policies need to be re-evaluated, Tarhan said; “We must focus on increasing the quality of life for young people. Young people turn to substances as a stress reduction technique. 70-80% do so as a stress reduction technique, while 20-30% seek excitement. Therefore, if we try to combat substance use solely with prohibitions, intimidation, and medieval methods without addressing the root cause, it will not yield results. The method needs to change for this. In the fight against addiction, instead of combating the negative, a method of strengthening the positive should be used. This is not being applied in Turkey regarding addiction. This yields slower results but permanent ones. Our addiction policies need to be re-evaluated, and new answers must be given to old questions.”
“Most Importantly, the Home Should Be a Warm Space”
Prof. Dr. Tarhan, drawing attention to parental attitude errors towards young people, stated; “There is a movement called 'Incel.' This 'Incel' movement produces misogyny. That is, young people experiencing a situation like involuntary celibacy, unable to express their sexuality to the opposite sex, have created social media platforms related to tendencies to kill them. Here, parental attitude errors are numerous. Parents either put too much pressure on the child or adopt a parenting style that allows everything. Therefore, if parents spent half an hour with their child 50 years ago, they should now spend an hour. We will make the home a safe environment for them. Most importantly, the home should be a warm space. When a child comes home, they should feel like they have come to a sanctuary, a safe space. If they come home in fear, if there is constant pressure, threat, or scolding at home, the child either takes refuge in social media or turns to bad friends. Therefore, the solution is not difficult. When we strengthen the family and re-evaluate addiction policies, the negative trend will evolve towards the positive.”
“Depression is Not an Illness That Can Be Cured by Advice”
Stating that depression is not an illness that can be cured by advice, Tarhan said that proper medication treatment should be applied. Tarhan stated; “When the psychological anatomy of young people's mental state is examined, the most common condition seen is depression. Depression is not an illness that can be cured by advice. They say, 'Don't worry, go out, it will pass, be your own doctor, use your will.' This is not such an illness; the brain's chemical transmissions are disrupted. Serotonin and dopamine levels decrease. Appropriate medication treatment needs to be given for these.”
‘Love, Value, Share’ Rule Develops Children's Sense of Belonging…
Emphasizing that communication with children should be in the form of dialogue, not monologue, Tarhan pointed out that problems are more easily solved in families that can communicate in this way. Tarhan said; “Parents should apply the ‘Love, Value, Share’ rule to their children. That develops their children's sense of belonging. That is, when they come home, most likely either the mother or father gives a lecture, preaches. This makes children feel worthless. There is a weak side coming from our culture here. The dose of criticism in our culture is very high. That is, while trying to correct a child by criticizing, we damage the child's self-confidence, and because the child's self-confidence is low, they cannot say ‘This is my opinion.’ They cannot say ‘no’ to peer bullying and fall under the influence of these gangs. Adolescence is also the age of gang formation. Young people deteriorate during the period of searching for and finding their own identity. If the home is a healthy environment with warm communication, even if the child makes one or two mistakes, they return home. Therefore, this problem is more easily solved in families that can talk to children like a dialogue, not a monologue.”
Young People Feed on False Praise on Social Media…
Prof. Dr. Tarhan stated that boundaries should be drawn using a common language in the family environment; “A gentle discipline is needed in the family environment. The home needs to be a rule-based environment. For example, the mother says one thing, the father another. They cannot use a common language. In such situations, children cannot balance what is right and what is wrong. For example, regarding social media use, Sweden made a decision stating that it should absolutely not be given to children until the age of two. After that, it was decided that smartphones or television would be shown for a maximum of two to three hours until the age of fifteen. That is one of the places where freedoms are most abundant. Because we see too many negative consequences of this. That is, to avoid these negative consequences, media literacy needs to be acquired. A person who exhibits themselves more than three times a day on social media is considered a narcissist. This is an epidemic among young people. That is, their self-confidence is low, and they are not happy; they feed on false praise here. During adolescence, feelings are more dominant than reason. Therefore, when there are no good examples in the environment, the child acts on their emotions. They act on their feelings and impulses. Helpful things that will engage their minds, and role models, are needed. The general tension in society also has an effect on this. That is, when there is generally a peaceful and calm environment in society, people feel safe if they feel justice.”