Analyzing Why Kids Struggle with Device Dependency/Addiction
Why device addiction is more difficult to manage than alcoholism/drug addiction
A recent article by Brian Klaas (The "Moronic Inferno" and "the Fidgets," OR Why My Phone is Now Black & White), and the recent release of Jonathon Haidt's book about the effect of smart phones on children ("The Anxious Generation"), inspired me to share my experiences and strategies in my private practice.
I'm a psychotherapist, and I work with kids who struggle with electronic device dependency/addiction. During our sessions, we spend a lot of time talking about device dependency/addiction:
1. We talk about the neuropsychology of addiction (dopamine), we analogize device addiction to other addictions to create awareness of their problem and perspective.
2. We distinguish device addiction from other addictions to show how difficult device addiction is to manage......because unlike an alcoholic, we can't completely abstain from electronics in modern society, so telling a kid (or an adult) with a device addiction that they not only can use electronic devices for school/work, but that they MUST use electronic devices for school/work........is like telling an alcoholics that they not only CAN have several drinks each day, but that they MUST have several drinks each day........but just don't overdo it (most alcoholics would go on a bender).
3. We try to create awareness that the kids' dependency/addiction to electronics is not a character flaw and does not make them a bad person, because this is how the kids..and at times, the exhausted parents...internalize their addiction.
From an evolutionary standpoint, tens of thousands of years of our neuropsychology has not and cannot evolve as fast as technology has in mere decades. Especially for kids whose prefrontal cortexes (which is responsible for judgment/reason/executive functioning) are still developing until around age 25.
Unlike adults/the older generation who still struggle with device addiction post-prefrontal cortex development, the addiction is literally being wired into the brain development of kids/the younger generation.
And even worse, many of the algorithms are specifically designed to target the reward system (dopamine) of the brain to keep people on the site for as long as possible to increase advertising revenue.
The kids literally have no chance against a system specifically designed by teams of engineers with knowledge of behavioral psychology to override executive functioning. I discuss this with my clients/parents in the context of "Youtube shorts" and TikTok videos.....and the dopamine effect, which is related to "anticipation" and intermittent reinforcement......where it is anticipated that the next 30/60 second video will be the coolest/funniest video they have ever seen....
......and if it's not, then the next video will be....
......and if it's not, then the next one will be, etc.
This is the same process that makes slot machines so addictive for gamblers.
We're all in the same situation as the kids to varying degrees. It's just that, as is the case with many/most things, we tend to be more aware of problems in other people than we are in ourselves. We're yelling at our kids to get off their phones, while glued to our own...
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I have also thoroughly analyzed the role of dopamine/addiction in our political discourse, and the effect it has on tribalism, confirmation bias, and conspiracy theory susceptibility. This article is an overview of everything I've written about the topic, and even contemplates the effect whether GLP-1 agonist drugs (Ozempic) might mitigate toxic political "addictions":