Social networks are 50 times more dangerous than drugs, according to a study

Social networks, online platforms and video games represent a much more imminent danger to adolescents than drugs and alcohol, warns a new German research.

RT news

«We face A tsunami of addiction disorders among young people I think we are completely underestimating, ”says Rainer Thomasius, medical director of the German Addiction Research Center in Children and Adolescents at the Hamburg-Emppendorf University Hospital (UKE).

The study – realized by the UKE together with the DAK medical insurance company – reveals that more than 25% of those between 10 and 17 years have symptoms of risky or pathological use of social networks, and that 4.7 % of them can be considered addicted.

«The problematic use rates of the media They are between five and fifty times higher to those of risky use of cannabis or alcohol in this age group, ”says Thomasius. Experts point out that, despite having an indirect effect on the central nervous system of a person, the feeling of reward that social networks create in the brain is the same as that generated by drugs and alcohol and that, therefore, in both cases there is a risk of addiction.

«The same is increasingly sought and control is lost«, Thomasius warns, adding that» the enormous amount of time consumed in the media leads to neglect other areas of life. «

Symptoms and treatment

The expert indicates that it is not always easy to distinguish when the person makes use risky of the screens and when this use has already become pathological. «A typical early symptom is a decrease in school performance and a decrease in interest in tasks,» he explains, and warns that these symptoms should not be confused with a pubertal crisis or the typical emotional stress of age.

What is a clear sign of a pathological consumption is when the symptoms persist For at least 12 months. To avoid this, parents should intervene much earlier – in the risk phase – and limit excessive access to screens, as well as monitor the content they see online.

However, the study shows that many parents do not meet these requirementssince about 40 % of parents do not act enough to limit the use of social networks and platforms, while a quarter does not moderate the content accessed by their children. «It is a really scary finding,» concludes the specialist.