President of Üsküdar University and Psychiatrist Prof. Nevzat Tarhan attended the “Life Does Not Accept Emptiness International NGO Summit,” organized under the motto “Stay Alive” through the leadership of the Life Does Not Accept Emptiness Association for the Fight Against Addiction and Education (HAKMED), in cooperation with the General Directorate of Civil Society Relations of the Ministry of Interior and Ankara University. Speaking at the summit, where Üsküdar University was also among the stakeholders, Tarhan emphasized that addiction is an ecosystem disease. He stated, “It is not an individual issue but an ecosystem-based problem. Here, the micro ecosystem is the individual, the middle ecosystem is the family, environment, and society, and the macro ecosystem is culture and values. If we cannot keep values alive, it will not be possible to prevent addiction in the medium and long term.”
The summit, held at the Grand Ankara Hotel, was attended by Vice President of the Republic of Türkiye Cevdet Yılmaz, President of Üsküdar University and Psychiatrist Prof. Nevzat Tarhan, Chairman of the Life Does Not Accept Emptiness Association for the Fight Against Addiction and Education Dr. Mustafa Uzun, Presidential Health Policies Board Member Prof. Toker Ergüder, as well as representatives of various NGOs, United Nations representatives, World Health Organization representatives, and many invited guests.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Speaker of the Grand National Assembly Numan Kurtulmuş sent congratulatory telegrams to the summit, which was attended by Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz.
Within the scope of the summit, Deniz Rahimoğlu, who overcame addiction, shared his personal struggle story. Tarhan congratulated him.
Prof. Nevzat Tarhan: “The phrase ‘life does not accept emptiness’ is deeply meaningful”
President of Üsküdar University and Psychiatrist Prof. Nevzat Tarhan delivered a protocol speech at the summit. He said, “‘Life does not accept emptiness’ is a deeply meaningful phrase. The latest studies in neuroscience clearly demonstrate this. In 2024, Hinton, a cognitive psychologist who focused on the question ‘How does the human brain work?’ received the Nobel Prize in Physics. Why did he receive it? Because he worked on artificial neural networks. By focusing on how the human brain works, he laid the foundations of artificial intelligence algorithms. That is why he is called the father or godfather of artificial intelligence. He received this award together with a geneticist. It is said that he won the Nobel because he persistently defended his minority view. This reminds us of the following: just as we missed the printing press and the industrial revolution, we must not miss the artificial intelligence revolution. We must focus on how we can use artificial intelligence in the field of addiction. One important dimension of the neuroscience-based fact that ‘life does not accept emptiness’ is this: the human brain is in constant search of infinity and meaning. The brain seeks freedom, relational satisfaction, and social connection. These concepts are known in the literature as Yalom’s four basic anxieties. If a person cannot satisfy their search for meaning, their need to overcome loneliness, their search for freedom, and their need for attachment, then they continue to seek infinity.”
“There is a leak at the bottom of the pot”
Presenting statistics on alcohol and substance use, Tarhan stated, “There is a need for attachment in the human brain. There are hormones associated with this, including oxytocin and dopamine. In fact, addiction is the misuse of the dopamine hormone. When we cannot fill this void, the individual becomes attached to substances. If a person cannot attach to meaning or to a higher power, they turn to substances. Or they attach to temporary, worldly things and experience dissatisfaction. Currently, mental illnesses are increasing globally. According to last year’s statistics of the World Health Organization, 85 percent of murders, 50 percent of sexual assaults, 50 percent of violent incidents, 60 percent of traffic accidents, and 70 percent of violence against women occur under the influence of alcohol and substances. What does this show us? We are trying to fill a pot in society. Our state is working, our defense industry is working, there is intense effort in every field, and we are trying to move Türkiye to a better point. However, there is a leak at the bottom of the pot. There is a loss. These types of incidents and what happens in prisons have a major economic cost. There are currently approximately 800 thousand probation files. These belong to individuals who have legal problems and use illegal substances. It is also known that there are several times more substance users who do not have legal problems.”
“We use the method of positive reinforcement to prevent people from becoming addicted”
Stating that the fight against addiction is not only a medical struggle, Tarhan said, “Today, in what we define as developed countries such as the United States, Europe, London, Paris, and New York, the streets smell of marijuana. Therefore, we still have some advantages to prevent our future from becoming like this, and we must activate these advantages. The fight against addiction is not merely a medical issue, nor is it only a medical treatment process. Hospital treatment is often approached as an easy solution with detox applied in 7 to 14 days. However, the real issue is prevention. Here, there are the concepts of primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention. Medical treatment is the easier and shorter path of this process. What truly matters is primary prevention, meaning working to ensure that healthy individuals do not become ill. In this context, as Üsküdar University, we conducted a study. For five years, we worked together with 20 psychologists. We prepared a supplementary textbook for 9th grade students and published it on the university’s website under the title ‘Science of Happiness and Values.’ The book contains various modules such as the meaning and purpose module, gratitude module, thankfulness module, anger control module, and empathy module. With these modules, we provide education to young people. Without directly addressing addiction, we aim for school guidance counselors to take these contents and apply them in schools through psychodrama practices within a scientific methodology framework. We use the method of positive reinforcement to prevent people from becoming addicted.”
“Those who experience creative hopelessness emerge stronger when they find hope”
Emphasizing the importance of voluntarism in overcoming addiction, Tarhan concluded as follows: “Working in family projects is fruitful. Addiction is an ecosystem disease. It is not an individual issue but an ecosystem based problem. Here, the micro ecosystem is the individual. The middle ecosystem is the family, environment, and society. The macro ecosystem is culture and values. If we cannot keep values alive, we will not be able to prevent addiction in the medium and long term. This is not only a threat for Türkiye but a global one. However, Türkiye is much more fortunate in overcoming this threat because it has the human resources to succeed. We have very valuable associations. We have non governmental organizations that think not only about today but also about the future. I hope such activities will continue with new projects. We can reach young people, and we can win families. If voluntarism exists, one should never become pessimistic by saying that an addicted person cannot recover. In fact, we call this creative hopelessness. Some people fall into hopelessness and say, ‘Everything is meaningless, it is over, I cannot recover.’ However, those who experience creative hopelessness emerge stronger when they find hope. We call this post traumatic growth. They emerge stronger from the trauma they experience and can start a new period in their lives.”