Families should be informative, not restrictive
Addiction, which is related to the pleasure center of the brain and dopamine, can be seen in children towards games. While the lights, colors, sounds and fast transitions in games have a stimulus effect on children, game addiction also reduces the quality of life of the child over time. Stating that addiction can be mentioned if the child spends too long time in front of the computer and neglects self-care, experts point out that forgetting to eat and being late for school while playing games can be a sign of addiction.
Üsküdar University NPISTANBUL Hospital Clinical Psychologist Çağrı Akyol Çevirir shared information about game addiction in children and gave preventive advice to families.
In addiction, the brain does not listen to the 'STOP' command!
Defining addiction as an irrepressible desire for an object, person or entity, Clinical Psychologist Çağrı Akyol Çevirir said, "We can also interpret addiction as the domination of the person by another will. It is related to the pleasure center of the brain and dopamine. It is a state of indifference to the brain's 'STOP, 'ENOUGH' command. Boredom is the behavior of filling the void, perhaps turning towards pleasure and avoiding pain. When a person continues with what he/she is addicted to, he/she says to himself/herself 'I am here, I am alive' and thinks 'I feel myself exist and I can express myself'."
Game addiction releases dopamine
Pointing out that dopamine is secreted into the reward center of the brain every time the addicted child plays a game, Çevirir said, "Over time, the pleasure mechanism starts to be restricted only to that area and the child who is addicted to games loses interest in other areas. Feeling good in a momentary and short time interval is an illusion that will work against the child in the long run. We can talk about a wrong coding here. Games have high stimuli such as light, colors, sounds and fast transitions. Whereas a child may not get the same pleasure when studying or reading a book. A child with game addiction gets pleasure, feels competent in that field, but their functionality starts to deteriorate and their quality of life gradually decreases."
Internet and computer use should be monitored
First of all, families should have a control mechanism, Çevirir said:
"Families should be able to control the child's internet and screen usage time. They should be able to see how the child spends the time he/she spends in the game he/she plays or on the internet. Families should be able to provide information to children about the internet, should be explanatory and instill this awareness in their children rather than immediately controlling and restricting them. They should show children that they can spend productive and good time outside the game and encourage them to other areas. Instead of opening a social media account at an early age, sports, intelligence-enhancing games, games that will increase social functionality and skills should be chosen according to the child's capacity. Ultimately, this will have a therapeutic effect. A child who spends a long time on the computer may not realize his/her abilities and may feel that he/she is only competent in that area. For this reason, children should be appreciated for the good things they do. It should not be punitive and the child should be allowed to internalize it."
Beware if your child forgets to eat and is late for school!
Clinical Psychologist Çağrı Akyol Çevirir talked about the symptoms of game addiction in children as follows:
"If children spend a long time in front of the computer and their self-care and quality of life decreases over time, we can talk about an addiction. Forgetting to eat while playing games, being late for school can be a sign of this. If the first thing that comes to his/her mind when he/she opens his/her eyes in the morning is the game, we can say that the child's view of life now consists of the game. Despite the negative effects, if this time increases more and more each time, addiction is now in question. The child's pleasure mechanism starts to be based on this and he/she may be depressed when not playing games."
Game addiction can be treated
Çağrı Akyol Çevirir noted that the causes of game addiction can be identified and treated by consulting a specialist.
