Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan: “Children should not be considered 'lost causes' by saying 'they can't be fixed'!”
Üsküdar University Founding Rector Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, NPİSTANBUL Hospital Psychiatry Specialist Prof. Dr. Onur Noyan, and Faculty of Health Sciences Child Development Department Head Prof. Dr. Nurper Ülküer attended the meeting where the results of the “Substance Addiction Search Meeting” held at the Turkish Grand National Assembly were shared and discussed. During the online meeting, steps to be taken in the fight against addiction among children and young people were discussed. Tarhan emphasized the need to teach children the happiness of meaning, stating that children should not be considered 'lost causes' by saying 'they can't be fixed'.
The 'Children's Movement,' which came together as a non-partisan group within the Turkish Grand National Assembly, met with prominent figures in the field to share the results of its 'Substance Addiction Search Meeting,' held to address the fight against addiction among children and young people from a broad perspective and to develop policies.
Üsküdar University Founding Rector Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, Üsküdar University Faculty of Health Sciences Child Development Department Head Prof. Dr. Nurper Ülküer, and NPİSTANBUL Hospital Psychiatry Specialist Prof. Dr. Onur Noyan also attended the online meeting, which was joined by DEVA Party Istanbul Deputy Elif Esen.
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan: “Addiction risk groups use substances because they are unhappy”
Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, stating that substance use is employed as a stress reduction technique, began his words by saying; “There are four pillars in addiction. Primary prevention consists of activities aimed at keeping healthy people from becoming sick. There is much to be done in Turkey within the existing structure concerning this. Addiction risk groups use substances because they are unhappy. They generally use it as a stress reduction technique. That is, it is used more as a stress reduction technique than for a thrill or pleasure seeking. Young children fall into various traps this way.”
“Sharing responsibility also gives pleasure”
Tarhan drew attention to positive psychology teachings for children; “For example, the Chinese teach children between 4-6 years old methods that introduce new sources of pleasure to the brain. Sports is one of them. Another is teaching children universal values. Taking pleasure is not only through sports. For instance, helping others, sharing responsibility also gives pleasure. There are modules developed for children for these. There are positive psychology teachings for children. When these are taught, children can achieve pleasure without substances.”
“We need to teach our children the happiness of meaning”
Tarhan emphasized that the happiness of meaning can be achieved by teaching children human values; “Mindfulness is called the new refuge of capitalism. It is an approach seeking solutions to helplessness in the Western world. This is actually about teaching the doctrines of our Anatolian wisdom and also ancient wisdom. Aristotle divides happiness into two. He talks about eudaimonic happiness instead of hedonic happiness. Eudaimonic, he says, is the happiness of meaning. So, we need to teach our children the happiness of meaning. This is done by teaching human values. Preventing healthy people from becoming sick is the easiest and most comfortable task to do, but we will reap its fruits ten years later.”
“Families feel helpless in substance addiction…”
Tarhan stated that reducing the demand for substances concerns government institutions; “There is a serious crisis regarding families feeling helpless in substance addiction. One of the addiction policies is demand reduction and supply prevention. Both need to be addressed together. The Ministry of Interior is doing an excellent job fighting supply. Very few in the world do it so effectively. Here, the technique of demand reduction should be done by other government institutions.”
They should not be considered 'lost causes' by saying 'they can't be fixed'!
Tarhan pointed out the need to focus on the positive instead of correcting the negative; “The Ministry of Health has an excellent staff. Many specialists have been trained in mental health hospitals. As Üsküdar University, we wrote a rehabilitation program. We submitted our project called REHAKOR to the Ministry of Justice. The project has two pillars. One is to provide tertiary prevention to prevent relapses. That is, to strengthen the positive instead of correcting the negative and to teach people ways to be happy. This is a treatment method that foresees this. Part of it is to teach the person internal sources of pleasure. This is difficult for addicted individuals, but if the person and social support are good, most can recover. It is important not to see them as lost causes, thinking they won't recover. We need to work in that area for as many people as we can save. So, in tertiary prevention, a rehabilitation and a change in methodology are absolutely necessary.”
The perception of impunity is a serious decay!
Tarhan spoke about children's concerns about the future; “One of the reasons for population decline is people's fear of getting married. Children have future anxiety. There is a societal unhappiness among people. The solution is very simple: you will instill a sense of hope in people. Turkey is a very fertile place. We have overcome so many difficulties in this geography; we can easily overcome this. Without despair or pessimism, by activating our existing infrastructure in the short term, and by implementing protective policies in the medium and long term, it is possible to find solutions to this issue of addiction. The staff at the Ministry of Family also needs to go into the field to reduce risks. Our AMATEMs are currently doing detoxification very well, but they are helpless because they cannot perform tertiary prevention. So, the perception of impunity among those who commit crimes… The perception of impunity is also a serious decay. This can create new incidents. That is, we may encounter major statistics regarding addiction.”
“The transmission of violence is epigenetic, not genetic”
Tarhan stated that epigenetic mechanisms come into play in the transmission of violence; “The transmission of violence is actually epigenetic, not genetic. If a child learns this in a family, epigenetic mechanisms are activated. If learning continues, it is transmitted, but if learning stops, violence, anger, and addiction begin not to be transmitted. This requires a sociological process. A 6-month process is necessary for this. First, we need to believe in this. In that case, epigenetic mechanisms change. If the family also supports this, if rehabilitation is applied gradually, if the perception of harm and awareness of consequences have formed, our success rate rises to 60-70 percent after 6 months. Therefore, there is no need to wait 10 years. There are urgent things to do. We can quickly start bringing these statistics down. If mandatory basic things are done within 6-month policies, it will start to decrease, and we will protect future generations.”
“There is no social change without mental transformation”
Tarhan noted that societal problems can be solved by achieving social change; “For example, there is Silicon Valley in San Francisco. That is not a valley, it is a mindset. It is a mental mechanism, a mental project. There will be no social change without transformation in our minds. And without social change, we cannot solve the problems in society. First, mental transformation is needed, then social transformation will follow.” he concluded.
Prof. Dr. Onur Noyan: “We have a serious lack of data on addiction”
NPİSTANBUL Hospital Psychiatry Specialist Prof. Dr. Onur Noyan said that as a country, we have a serious lack of data on addiction. Stating, 'Unfortunately, we do not have regular, transparent statistical data,' Noyan said, “For this reason, we need strong and up-to-date statistical information at the national level. I work in the field of addiction, but if someone asks me, 'What is the addiction rate in our country?' unfortunately, we cannot give a figure. If we cannot give a figure, we cannot fix anything.”
“Continuity must be ensured in studies”
Noyan emphasized the importance of continuity in addiction studies; “Continuity must be ensured in studies related to child addiction. That is, some things are done on everyone's own initiative. Someone is interested, it's done, but there is no follow-up. A workshop is held, decisions are made, but unfortunately, there is no result. Because next year, someone else takes over. They hand it over to someone else. The institutional structure has still not been established. That is, there has not been a single central hub. There should be a statistics institute, an addiction science institute. Everyone should carry out their work under that umbrella. Statistics related to early warning systems are also important. And there is a lack of rehabilitation. When we don't do this, we can't get anywhere. If we are to talk about tertiary prevention, we must, in some way, ensure that patients we have successfully treated do not relapse. This way, it will decrease. And this will happen through rehabilitation.”
Prof. Dr. Nurper Ülküer: “The issue of substance addiction is everyone's concern”
Üsküdar University Faculty of Health Sciences Child Development Department Head Prof. Dr. Nurper Ülküer spoke within the scope of the meeting. Ülküer said; “It is very important for a child to be in an environment where their self-confidence can be developed, and they are raised with love, starting from 4-6 years old. However, the story may not always start well, but we can change the story in the middle. That is, we can transform this story by involving the parents in the process. The issue of substance addiction is everyone's concern. I understood once again today that we need to emphasize that not only the child but also the parent and society are part of this issue. Primary Health Care Services are really very important. We need to identify risk factors at a very early stage. That is, we should start home visits, not after a problem arises, but from the child's developmental process, based on family and intra-family interactions. Such family visits are carried out in many European countries and appear as a very serious preventive measure. If we write the story beautifully from the very beginning in the fight against addiction, and if we can involve ourselves in the process, we can get very good results in ten years. We can start with small steps now.”
“We need to work more on this issue”
Ülküer spoke about the effects of being able to look at events positively; “The issue of dopamine addiction really caught my attention. Along with this, we know that art, play, and movement provide natural dopamine in children and people in general. At this point, I started asking myself, 'How can we re-integrate play, art, and movement into our lives more intensely?' It cannot be left to rehabilitation centers, AMATEMs, and ÇEMATEMs. Of course, they are very serious and important centers, but one way to start and continue the story beautifully from the beginning is through movement, play, art, and music. Being able to look positively, approaching the issue with hope based on positive psychology, is one of the ways we can solve a problem like addiction before it grows too big, by addressing it with society, family, and children. At this point, social service specialists, child development specialists, psychiatrists, and psychologists are an important part of this process. I believe that Primary Health Care Services should provide the necessary services much more strongly for the family, child, and society to be happier and healthier. Perhaps we should work more on this issue. We also see that the Ministry of Health is quite interested in these issues and is implementing good initiatives such as the 'Healthy Living Academy.' This is also promising.”