Computer addiction in adolescents. Addiction to computer games

And why do children “stick around” the computer for a long time and play games for hours, including extremely harmful online games? That's right - because their parents allow them to do it.

And why do parents allow their children to surf the Internet and play games? No, not necessarily because they are bad and not loving parents, and they do not care about the mental development of their child - if only they do not interfere ...

Perhaps because parents are too busy with their lives and everyday life; perhaps because they do not know how dangerous the influence of a computer and Internet games is for a child's psyche; perhaps because parents do not understand and do not realize how important it is for the development of a full-fledged child REAL communication with parents and with peers; or perhaps because parents do not know at all the inner life of their child: his experiences, his interests and dreams, his needs and desires ...

One way or another, but no one belittles the rights and great responsibility of parents for the correct upbringing of their children, for how an adult grows up from a child, what kind of personality it will be.

How computer, game addiction is formed in children

In addition, a child's computer addiction is formed as a "bad habit", i.e. due to multiple and prolonged repetitions, i.e. frequent and long games and meetings on the network, but the main thing is that gambling addiction, especially on online games, is formed from the illusory, virtual satisfaction of one's basic, subconscious needs and desires.

Namely - the need for communication, self-disclosure, self-actualization, raising self-esteem, strengthening the self-position, self-affirmation, self-identification ... and so on. etc.

Those. everything that should be satisfied in a child in real conditions, through communication and interaction with parents (primarily with parents) and with peers, begins to be illusoryly satisfied in the computer, in online games and social networks ...

As a result, a failure occurs in the child's perception, mixing of the real and virtual world. He can perceive the real world in the same way as the fictional, game world, and behave in accordance with the laws of the game - for example, think that he has several lives.

The human brain is just an organ, a very complex and poorly studied, but an organ. And the psyche, or human soul, is, relatively speaking, software that provides processing of our perception of reality, reflects reality and regulates our thinking, emotions and behavior.

In the process of development and upbringing, the child's brain perceives various information through the senses, and the psyche processes it. And if the brain is constantly given fictional information, then psychologically a person will perceive it as real, real.

The task of the parents is not only to feed and dress the child, but also in the correct "programming" of the child's psyche.

What to do and how to protect a child from computer and gaming addiction

To protect their child from computer addiction, gambling, parents need:

• Firstly, you yourself should not hang out on the Internet for a long time ..., and if you yourself are addicted to games - this is your choice, but so that the child does not see it;
• Secondly, to ensure control over the child's activities, especially the amount of time spent at the computer (tablet, smartphone, game console) playing games or other entertainments, including social networks (no more than 1 hour in a row, and no more than 3 hours in a day)
• Thirdly, you need to devote as much time as possible to communication and interaction with the child, especially the parent of the same sex (joint pastime: normal games - street, sports, board; joint watching of films, TV shows, reading books and other printed publications, followed by discussion plot; show genuine interest and attention to the problems, needs and desires of the child (and not with parental mentoring and criticism, but with respect for the growing personality) ...
• Fourthly, carefully, unobtrusively find out the hidden interests of the child, his experiences, find out if possible dreams. To do this, you need to look at what games he plays at home, what games he plays with friends, find out what books he reads, what films he watches, what music he listens to - what he is generally interested in ... Children's and teenage pages on social networks give a lot of information. BUT, in any case, do not break into the child's personal space, do not put pressure on him, and even more so, do not hack his social networks and phone. Do everything softly and unobtrusively, and most importantly, sincerely ... with love ...

What to do if a child has already become addicted to computers, the Internet and games

The first thing you need to know is in no case to put pressure on the child and not to do harsh actions: disconnected the Internet, broke the computer, pulled him out of the game by force, etc.

The child's gambling addiction did not appear immediately, and therefore, drastically changing something is fraught with a defensive reaction, including aggression and self-aggression ...

You will have to be patient, and gradually change the addictive behavior of your child ... finding new topics for his employment and satisfaction of internal needs. And most importantly, you will have to build a renewed parent-child relationship with your child.

Unfortunately, gambling addiction, including in children, is considered already as a psychological disorder, therefore, in order to resolve this problem, you will most likely have to consult a psychologist.

Aggressive child - causes of child aggression

Anonymous psychological help for alcoholics

Improper parenting is the source of children's neuroses

Psychological assistance, online psychologist consultation: psychoanalysis, psychotherapy

Causes, symptoms and treatment of addiction to computer games

Addiction to computer games is one of the forms of psychological addiction, which manifests itself in a person in an obsessive passion for computer games. Such dependence is one of the forms of addictive human behavior, a way to escape from the existing reality by transforming one's psychoemotional behavior and requires competent correction.

Causes

Computer addiction in children has become an epidemic. The average student spends at a computer from 2 to 6 hours. About 70% of American children spend their free time playing games with stories of cruelty and violence. In these games, murder is the goal and the main element of the game. Children confuse virtual reality with real, so more and more minors in America open fire with guns and pistols at school.

Any addiction or mania is the result of deep psychological problems. With the help of computer games, a person tries to get away from a life situation that worries him or replace some missing element in his life (attention of loved ones, social status, absence of a loved one).

Possible causes of computer addiction:

• Various mental disorders (psychopathies). Pathological traits of a person's character, lack of communication, notoriousness and modesty often lead a person to Internet addiction. Some patients use the computer to realize their childhood fears and fantasies;
• Lack of communication. This problem is relevant for children and adolescents whose parents are constantly busy making money;
• Intra-family conflicts. To get away from family scandals, some people plunge into the virtual world, which further aggravates the situation and leads to divorce;
• Social phobias. A person is afraid of real society, interpersonal relations. Computer games allow you to escape from reality, to feel strong and significant. A computer for a person becomes an interlocutor, life partner and sexual partner.

Symptoms

The pathophysiological mechanisms of the formation of computer addiction and gambling addiction are the same. They are based on stimulating various pleasure centers in the brain. Both teenagers and independent adults fall into dependence on computer games.

This pathological condition manifests itself in the form of a feeling of euphoria and psycho-emotional uplift during immersion in the virtual world. The patient cannot plan his time at the computer. In order to fight sleep and stimulate mental activity, he begins to use caffeinated drinks and other psychostimulants. For some adult gamers, beer and various fast food are becoming the staple food. A person who is most immersed in the virtual world does not follow the rules of personal hygiene: he forgets to brush his teeth, comb, take a shower. He eats poorly, sleeps and leads a sedentary lifestyle.

If the computer breaks down, the patient is in a frustrated state, he can be aggressive with relatives and people around him. Such a person starts spending all his money on software updates, set-top boxes, new games. He does not think about his personal life, work or study, his world narrows down to the next mission in the game.

As addiction progresses, a person cannot give up computer games, although he is well aware of their uselessness. He constantly leaves the existing reality and plunges into the virtual world, assumes the role of a certain character and lives his “computer” life.

The patient communicates with other people on various computer topics. Gambling addiction leads to an overload of the central nervous system; excitatory impulses constantly enter the human brain.

After a while, the patient has a decrease in mood, general well-being, social activity, increased anxiety and impaired adaptation in society. As computer addiction develops, adults develop dissatisfaction with themselves, the meaning of life is lost, and deep depression develops.

In adults with gambling addiction, libido decreases, various disorders occur in the sexual sphere. "Dependent" people, as a rule, have an unsettled personal life, closed, taciturn.

Manifestations in adolescents and children

Computer addiction in adolescents is usually severe. They become angry and aggressive if their parents ask them to get away from the computer even for a minute. Signs of gambling addiction in children is the fact that they start to skip school, lie to their parents and teachers. Some underage patients ask or steal money in order to spend on their favorite computer game.

Computer games cause cruelty in children, because they have to shoot and kill, and for this they are rewarded in the form of points, bonuses and gifts. The child's immature psyche is overloaded with game effects. In the minds of a modern child, virtual reality does not differ from real life.

Computer addiction in adolescents negatively affects their health and academic performance. The child begins to drink and eat without leaving the computer monitor. At school, all his thoughts and desires are directed towards the anticipation of playing at home.

Teenagers with gambling addiction abandon friends, begin to eat unhealthy foods, and abandon their studies. Many juvenile patients become aggressive and violent. Some scientists argue that computer addiction in children leads to dementia.

Effects

Addiction to computer games negatively affects human health. Over time, his eyesight deteriorates, problems with the spine and joints appear. Many "addicts" suffer from headaches and insomnia. As a result of long sitting at the computer, a person develops weakness, increased fatigue, and decreases appetite. Long-term sitting at the computer leads to the development of cardiovascular diseases: angina pectoris and coronary heart disease.

Long-term use of drinks containing caffeine and other stimulants leads to depletion of the nervous system, arterial hypertension. Considering that "addicted" people do not eat well, they develop gastritis and gastroduodenitis, a tendency to constipation.

Computer games in children develop those parts of the brain that are responsible for vision and movement. Gambling addiction suspends the development of the frontal lobes, which are responsible for training memory, learning, emotions.

Children addicted to computer games spend little time in the fresh air and do not play sports. Most often, these children have a pale appearance, "bruises" under the eyes, poorly developed musculoskeletal system.

Diagnostic criteria

Before seeking qualified medical attention, you need to make sure that your family member has a computer addiction, and not just an excessive passion for video games. There are a number of criteria based on which you can differentiate the problem:

• The patient does not want to be distracted from the game and reacts aggressively to such requests;
• Lack of critical attitude to their behavior;
• The patient neglects his social responsibilities (study, work), does not participate in family affairs and his social activity is sharply reduced;
• The patient loses interest in the world around him, and experiences an emotional upsurge only during a computer game;
• Disregard for the norms of personal hygiene, behavior in society;

In addition to deviant behavior, the patient has sleep disturbances, headaches, and discomfort in the back. Also, due to the prolonged forced position of the hand, the development of carpal tunnel syndrome is possible.

If these criteria are met, the patient can be diagnosed as addicted to computer games.

Therapies

Computer addiction cannot be viewed as a completely independent disease. It is the result of more serious psychological problems. Therefore, it is important for a specialist to identify the root cause of the disease and deal with it.

To treat the consequences of computer addiction, psychotherapy, medication, hypnosis are used. It is important to take an integrated approach.

With this addiction, psychiatrists use autogenic training, behavioral, family psychotherapy, psychosynthesis. Psychotherapy is aimed at correcting family relationships, eliminating various psychological attitudes of a person (isolation and lack of communication), treatment of children's fears and sexual problems in adults.

Gestalt therapy methods are successfully used in adults. This is due to the fact that passion for computer games is a way to get away from a previously unsolved problem. And these techniques suggest how to “close the gestalt” ie resolve the situation.

Symptomatic drug therapy is aimed at treating insomnia, irritability, increased anxiety, and depression. Herbal sedatives are prescribed for adult patients with gambling addiction to reduce the excitability of the nervous system. These can be herbal tinctures, but most often doctors prescribe tranquilizers or antipsychotics. Sleeping pills are used to normalize sleep cycles.

Antidepressants are essential drugs in the treatment of computer addiction. They relieve psycho-emotional stress, normalize mood and improve overall well-being.

It is important to establish proper nutrition, which takes into account the already formed problems with digestion. The patient is additionally prescribed a course of vitamins and fortifying medicines.

Stages of psychological assistance

Specialized help has a certain staging. This structure has been identified as the most effective in treating computer addiction.

In the first step, it is important to help the patient overcome internal resistance to treatment. This is the key point, without which further therapy becomes meaningless. The patient must understand the problem, as well as the need for outside help to resolve it.

The second stage aims to determine the depth of the problem. The patient, together with the attending physician, must identify all the pitfalls that can interfere with social rehabilitation. The doctor's tactics in this case are supportive and guiding.

In the third stage, the doctor's goal is to prepare the patient for real action and change. There is a gradual abandonment of computer games. The patient spends more time walking and doing daily activities. The doctor records his progress and encourages him.

Psychotherapy with this problem takes a long time and requires delicacy and complete understanding between the doctor and the patient.

All information provided on this site is for reference only and is not a call to action. If you find any symptoms in yourself, you should immediately consult a doctor. Do not self-medicate or diagnose.

SNO GOU VPO NSMU Roszdrav - EstheticLife.ru

Gambling addiction in children

Don't touch my toy, it is part of my inner world.

Nowadays, almost every home has a computer. Such an interesting toy certainly attracts children, and many parents are faced with the fact that their offspring spend too much time playing games, which is why they lose interest in what is happening in real life: they behave inadequately, do poorly at school, and disappear somewhere due to their debt. ... Parents are also worried about the medical aspect of the problem, because a long stay at the computer is unhealthy, especially for children.

The most obvious, intuitive method of struggle for most parents is a kind of repression: - they sharply limit the time of the game, set the conditions for “admission” to the computer, or completely excommunicate from their favorite activity for an indefinite period. Those that worked in one case, in another, they also lead to the opposite result - gambling addiction and its negative consequences only intensify.

Consider the most common parenting decisions and what they actually lead to.

Often, having decided to end the child's gambling addiction, parents forcibly reduce his time at the computer. Guided by feelings rather than common sense, they reduce the "playing time" at a time and several times at once, to the only "safe", in their opinion, value. But a child who is accustomed to spending, say, five to six hours a day at the computer, will naturally perceive the permission to play for only an hour or even half an hour as a form of bullying and will react extremely negatively. The most unfortunate option (speaking only about the helplessness of the parents) is complete weaning from the computer, leading to the most painful and unpredictable reactions on the part of the child (cases of suicide and murder of relatives are known).

Much, of course, depends on the "patient" himself. In some cases, sanctions give a result - not without worries, they will leave (at least temporarily) a habit that parents hate. However, this does not guarantee that they will not fill the resulting vacuum of free time with some worse and dangerous occupations than living at the computer.

But with some children, especially teenagers, restrictions and prohibitions only lead to worse consequences. They, outwardly agreeing with the measures of their parents, secretly from them try to make up for the lost playing time. It's good if the conflict unfolds at home, when children secretly play at night or use every minute while their parents are at work (often children start skipping school to have more time). It is much worse if the child, no longer able to play at home, goes to a play club. Once in these networks, he will constantly need money, be out of the house, it is absolutely possible that he will fall into a bad company.

These three components lead to the most sad consequences that cannot be compared with the original problem - according to police statistics, a significant part of child crimes are committed precisely because of the need to find money to play. The whole horror of such a situation lies in the fact that parents unexpectedly lose all mechanisms of influence - they can only watch their child or place him under “house arrest”.

Thus, the “forceful” option, although simple (and in some cases effective), at the same time carries a considerable risk of exacerbating the situation on the principle of a splinter, when awkward handling only drives it deeper.

Another popular approach is to enter into a kind of bargaining with children, allowing them to play for some time to perform certain duties. When it comes to lessons, you should not expect much improvement in learning - thinking only about what awaits him AFTER, the child is unlikely to get much benefit from the automatically completed task. And even if it is just about helping around the house, this path also leads to a dead end - nothing will change qualitatively, the child will still be dependent, but everything will only be aggravated by the intervention of the parents, cynically using his weaknesses. In terms of the consequences, this option differs little from a simple restriction without conditions - the child can and, most likely, will try to play more, deceiving parents when it is possible or by visiting a game club.

How to deal with gambling addiction in children?

First of all, parents need to realize that this is not a “nonsense” problem that can be solved by simply expelling the child from behind the monitor. To understand that he plays all day not because he is bad, stupid or lazy. The reason is different: he lacks something and he has problems (according to their parents, oversight), and the computer with all its contents, being an almost ideal surrogate for everything in the world, only replaces the emptiness or painful areas in the child's life. Therefore, in order to successfully combat the child's unhealthy hobby, parents should not shower him with a wave of negativity and repression, but, on the contrary, have the courage to take responsibility for himself.

As a rule, the root of evil is that they were not attentive enough and missed the moment when the child needed participation, but it was not they, but only the computer that was nearby.

It is also necessary not only to take away from the child his usual pastime, but to give something in return - something just as exciting, but from real, not virtual life. Parents will be faced with the daunting task of competing with the latest, cleverly crafted computer games. But in a sense, this is true - they will have to atone for their guilt by returning the child from the dream world into which they themselves once missed it. And the longer the child has been there, the more difficult the task of dad and mom will be.

And finally, gradualness. If cases with addiction have taken on such frightening forms that in any case it is necessary to reduce the child's time at the computer (for example, if he plays 12 hours a day, including at night), you need to do it gradually. Sequentially “chopping off” him for an hour a day every few weeks and breaking his playing time (without a sharp reduction) into two parts to form a break.

It is easier to distract young children from the computer - they tend to switch faster and change interests. Probably, the most effective solution will be to enroll the child in some section, if time permits (you should not overload him too much), even two. However, you need to choose carefully and taking into account the opinion of the child - he should be really interested in where you send him. Otherwise, the section will turn into "hard labor" for him, which he will try to avoid. At the same time, classes in a drawing or dancing circle by no means relieve parents from the need to take part in the child's “rehabilitation” themselves. Joint trips, even for simple entertainments such as a circus, a children's theater, a visit to the beach, and in general, any joint pastime, most likely, will alienate the child from the computer. It is not even necessary to come up with something special every time or take a young lover of computer games somewhere - you can distract him at home, not sparing time for a joint game or an interesting business. Of course, all this will require observation, patience and time - parents should be able to really interest the child in an alternative to the computer. Otherwise, the result will be zero, "having exhausted" the child will want to return to the monitor.

As for adolescents, then, with them everything is much more complicated - trying to come up with some new activity for them, you can face fierce resistance. Especially if you clumsily give away your plans by proclaiming something like: "You will do this instead of playing!" With older children, the “distraction” tactic works badly - it’s not so easy to come up with an interesting and, from the point of view of parents, harmless activity for the boys, and most importantly, present it so that it is accepted. In that case, just a serious conversation (preferably in fulfillment of the father) and, as it may sound, concessions will help. It is already difficult to change almost adult children - if they are seriously addicted to computer games, then the only thing that can be done without acute conflicts and consequences is to introduce the hobby into reasonable shores. In this case, it is necessary to agree "in an amicable way", patiently seeking a certain compromise that suits everyone.

In some particularly difficult cases, the consultation of a professional psychologist may be helpful. It is possible that one should come to it with a child - having heard from the lips of a stranger (and not parents who are tired of their claims) about the dangers of excessive enthusiasm for a computer, he can really think about what is happening in his life. On the other hand, one should not thoroughly follow all the recommendations - as a rule, doctors who are conservative (and are convinced that any game over 15 minutes a day is harmful) will insist on strict prohibitions, which, in turn, will only harm. Each case is individual, and the only ones who can truly solve the problem of a particular child are his parents, and not by prohibitions and punishments, but, first of all, by attention and care.

After all, computer games are not the most dangerous and harmful hobby that tempts modern children. Obviously, it needs parental control, but it is pointless to fight for complete eradication - it's okay if the child plays within reasonable limits, the main thing is that it does not interfere with his business and future in real life. Experience shows that many children, growing up and finding new interests, gradually move away from children's hobbies for games or devote less time to them, which is what parents once wanted.

Correspondent of the project " EstheticLife "

How to get rid of computer addiction in adolescents and children: advice from a psychologist

In the 21st century, it's hard to imagine life without a computer. Virtual reality has firmly established itself in our home, and every day it captures more and more people. We are attracted by incredible opportunities, fantastic prospects. When the passion for games and the Internet goes beyond reason, when a person does not eat, almost does not sleep, and what is happening on the other side of the monitor becomes more important for him than what is around, we can talk about a painful addiction. Doctors call it computer addiction, gambling addiction. It is especially alarming if a child becomes a prisoner of virtual reality.

It usually starts in one scenario. Moms and dads, hoping to get an hour and a half of free time, give the kid a tablet or phone. The offspring is busy, the house is quiet, the adults are happy. Then the grown-up child masters the Internet and realizes that it is much more interesting there than in ordinary life. And after a few years, parents do not know where to look for help, what to do with the child's obsessive craving for high technology.

And their fears are not unfounded: the child is not interested in studying, does not want to walk with friends in the yard, does not dream of going to the sea in the summer, does not help with the housework, and sometimes forgets to eat and does not sleep well.

Let's try to figure out together what computer addiction is in children and adolescents - a disease or just a hobby? What to do to prevent its appearance? And what if your child is already addicted to virtuality?

Diagnosis or hobby?

There is no consensus on this matter yet. The International Classification of Diseases does not contain a diagnosis of "computer addiction", although the question of including this term in the list is raised annually. But many doctors are inclined to consider computer addiction as a disease, along with alcoholism and drug addiction. An experiment was conducted in Germany, during which two dozen people were shown screenshots from their favorite computer games. The reaction of people turned out to be identical to that observed in alcoholics and drug addicts when they are shown a bottle of alcohol or a dose of drugs.

According to statistics, 12 out of every 7000 people are addicted to online computer games. 19% of the 250 million Facebook users admitted to feeling addicted to gambling.

Online games are the most addictive. In 2005, a teenage girl died of starvation in China. She played World of Warcraft for several days. A year later, in Bashkiria, a 17-year-old boy died of an epileptic seizure caused by playing for many hours at the computer. The sad statistics can be continued further, because such cases have recently occurred more and more often.

It is no secret that schoolchildren who have outplayed bloody "shooters" can arrange carnage in real life. Shootings and massacres are occasionally organized by American and Japanese schoolchildren.

Passion for computer games in itself is not dangerous. But when does it become addictive? The main signs that your child is a gambling addict or a victim of Internet addiction:

• He began to communicate less on abstract topics. All conversations are around your favorite game.
• He is not interested in studying, he stopped attending sections, or does it extremely reluctantly.
• The child spends all his free time at the computer. Any attempts to force him to turn off the technique lead to a scandal. Parents' attempts to limit the time at the monitor cause the child to cry, rage, and hysterics.
• The child has become more irritable, his mood often and for no reason changes - from excitement he easily turns to depressive blues.
• He does not know how to control his time spent at the computer. He says that he will play for two hours, but he can sit much longer.
• The child has ceased to take care of himself - without a reminder, he may forget to wash, brush his teeth, change clothes.
• He has no friends left. He hardly communicates with anyone.
• Your child has "memory gaps". Short-term memory suffers, he may not remember what he said or promised a few hours ago.

If you find at least three matches in this list, this is a reason to take urgent action. There are now special tests on the Internet that allow, after filling out the questionnaire, to understand how great the risk of developing computer addiction is. They are largely subjective, and do not allow one hundred percent diagnostics, but they will help to form a general idea of \u200b\u200bthe problem.

Causes

Almost all children like to sit at the computer. But why do some develop addiction while others do not? Why is it easy for some children to do behavior correction while others find it difficult? It's all about the personal characteristics of your offspring - his temperament, level of self-esteem, type of organization of the nervous system.

If a teenager is not confident in himself, he has little communication outside the home - with a great degree of probability he can become addicted to online communication. There he will find what he lacks in life.

Children with a high level of anxiety and fears often "get hooked" on heroic computer epics. They like to identify themselves as the omnipotent character of the game, who kills hordes of monsters with one left. In this case, the child, as it were, compensates for the lack of courage and decisiveness in reality.

Game developers know all this very well, and every year they are improving their product more and more - high-quality sound, 3D graphics, the effect of presence ... Everything is created to make a person feel "for real" inside the game. Children's psyche is more labile, it is easier to captivate them than adults, they believe in what is happening faster. That is why for every adult suffering from computer addiction in our country there are now more than 20 children with the same problem.

What's really going on? The child ceases to perceive the world as before. As computer addiction develops, he loses his best human qualities - empathy, love, honesty.

Most of all addiction to gadgets are subject to:

• Attention deficit children. Parents devote little time to them, and then their peers ignore them. The best prevention in this case is love and participation in the child's life.
• Children are choleric and children are melancholic. Their worldview is special even without computers. Guys with such temperaments "get used to" the proposed circumstances easier than others.
• Children from “problem” families. We are talking about families where domestic violence is practiced - scandals, beatings, coercion into something. And even if another family member is the victim of violence, the child will psychologically seek to escape from this uncomfortable reality to another. Why not virtual? The same partly applies to families where the parents have recently divorced, and it is still difficult for the child to accept the changes.
• Children who are not trained to save time. If a child has not been taught how to manage his time rationally since childhood, then over the years he has too many free minutes and hours. He sincerely believes that the responsibility to clean the room or take out the trash can be postponed for later. It's much more interesting to spend time in virtuality. Without parental control, such children will not hit the housework, but they will sit down at the computer with great pleasure.
• Children with complexes. A girl who does not like her own appearance has a chance to become a beautiful warrior in a computer game. A shy and timid boy manages to be a hero - a winner. The game fills the voids in the child's soul, and gradually he ceases to be himself, but becomes a character in the game.

Effects

Computer addiction can lead to very dire consequences:

• Social isolation, lack of the child's ability to communicate and negotiate.
• Nervous and mental personality disorders - psychosis, clinical depression, hysteria, schizophrenia.
• Difficulty learning, lack of motivation.
• Associal behavior, lack of understanding of the boundaries of what is permitted, including the law. As a result, the child can become a criminal.
• Diseases: gastritis, impaired posture, hemorrhoids, chronic fatigue syndrome, exhaustion of the whole organism, gastric ulcer and duodenal ulcer, myopia, glaucoma, dry eye syndrome, hyperopia, display syndrome.

Help

There are several ways to help your child get rid of computer addiction. But the degree of addiction should be considered. In some cases, parents can help their child on their own, and in some they need the help of specialists.

Educational conversation

A great way at the very beginning of addiction. It is important to understand the causes of addiction. Why is the child on the other side of the monitor better off than with you? The most common mistake is to start lecturing about the dangers of a computer, to scandalize and appeal to the child's conscience. This will only annoy him. Try to become a "companion".

Spend the evening with your child in his favorite game. Play with him, chat. Let him tell you about all the characters and their capabilities. In the course of the virtual adventure, gently elicit from the child why he likes to be this hero and not another? Why does he need so many weapons? Who is he fighting with? Contact will be established, perhaps not the first time. But when you understand for yourself what attracts your son or daughter in the game, you will be able to plan his leisure time a little differently, including in it the missing one.

Psychoanalysis

Today, it is the most common way to combat computer addiction in both children and adults. An experienced psychoanalyst will help reveal the true deep reasons for leaving for another, virtual world. Sometimes, after just one session, the specialist will unmistakably determine which family problems, personal complexes, and moral trauma are pushing the child into a different space and dimension. Parents are encouraged to participate in therapy.

If you take the whole family with a sincere desire to change something in your life, then the result will be positive. The main condition is that parents must be ready to make changes in their own way of life, in their habits and character. The services of a psychoanalyst are not very cheap. But this method is effective when the addiction has long passed the initial stage.

Hypnosis

Psychotherapists began to treat computer addiction with hypnosis about ten years ago. Sufficient experience has been gained. The hypnologist puts the child into a trance (with the consent of the parents) and gently gives him psycho-attitudes towards indifference to computer games and communication on the Internet. Something like this is coded for alcoholics.

However, do not think that hypnosis is a panacea. Firstly, not all people succumb to hypnosis, and secondly, the symptoms of addiction may disappear, but their hidden causes will remain. And then the child, from whose life computer games have gone, will begin to fill the voids with something else. Not the fact that something good and useful. Computer addiction can be replaced by other pathological conditions - from theft to drugs.

Medicines

Often, drug treatment is used to get rid of computer addiction (especially in the "advanced" stages). Prescription drugs are prescribed by a doctor. Usually, this happens when a child is diagnosed with personality disorders, depression, anxiety. The specialist prescribes antidepressants, sedatives.

It must be said right away that pills and injections alone cannot get rid of computer addiction, since they again treat the consequences, not the cause. Whatever one may say, one cannot do without psychological help and rehabilitation. And the use of psychotropic drugs has never brought much benefit to the child's body.

• If you find a computer addiction in your child, don't panic. You can scare him with your reaction and drive him even deeper into a detached state. Analyze the situation and make a plan for getting out of it.
• Don't scream, don't blame your child. It's not his fault. In the end, didn't we ourselves, once gave him a gadget to keep him busy for a while? Take responsibility and be patient. Computer addiction does not recede quickly.
• Find a good time to chat with your son or daughter. Look for the reason for his voluntary departure to virtuality.
• Offer your child interesting ways to spend their leisure time. Remember, they must be in tune with the cause of the addiction. If a timid child is carried away by games to feel omnipotent, send him to the boxing section, karate, organize a parachute jump. If a teenager lacks thrills in everyday life, suggest going out and playing paintball together on the weekend or taking part in an interactive quest in reality. They are now common. There, the child will be able to feel like the same hero, but for real. If your son or daughter has problems with communication, enroll the child in a theater studio, dance classes, anywhere where the principle "we are a team" applies.

• Set goals for the addicted child. And gradually teach him to set goals on his own and go towards them.
• You should not forbid him to sit down at the computer or take away the gadget from him, trying to wean him off the tablet by force. This will cause aggression and resentment. And these feelings are not conducive to establishing contact.
• Outline your child's responsibilities. Lessons, cleaning, dog walking, garbage removal. Don't be afraid to overload it. No one has ever died from household chores. Reward for what you have done, but not extra time at the computer. Install the incentive system yourself. What could it be? A little money that a child can save up for their dream sneakers or whatever they want.
• Computer addiction is rapidly growing younger. If 10 years ago adolescents suffered from it, now you can meet mothers who complain that they cannot drive out their 4-5 year old baby because of the monitor. If the child is not yet 10 years old, try to strictly dose the time spent in the game. Desirable, no more than half an hour a day. And the best thing is to find an alternative activity, the computer is not the best toy for young children.
• Be prepared to change yourself. Together with your child, you will jump with a parachute, master roller skating, go fishing or dancing. Remember that he cannot cope with addiction alone.
• Don't relax. As in the treatment of alcoholism or drug addiction, the patient may experience relapses, breakdowns. Just about, it would seem, it was possible to distract the child from the "tanks" and "war", but you quarreled, and he again moves away, trying to hide in the game.

You need to know the enemy by sight

Parents whose children are overly addicted to the Internet and games need to know which games are the most addictive and crippling.

In this list, according to experts, The Sims, the horror film Five Nights at Freddy’s, Second Life, Prototype, Left 4 Dead 2, Fallout 3, Splatterhouse and World of Warcraft. Recently, children and adolescents have gone headlong into World of Tanks.

"Tanks" are not as bloody as "Splatterhouse", where severed limbs, skin stripped from enemies is the norm, not fanaticism, but they have their own nuances. The game of "Tanks" requires cash investments - after all, the technique needs to be improved ("pumped"). Where will the child get the money? That's right, at the parents. And if they do not give it, then it can steal from outsiders, since the desire to have the coolest tank at this moment is stronger than common sense. I have seen adult men who "invest" most of their income in tanks, not thinking that they have families, children, obligations. What about teenagers? Take the time, ask what your child is playing, try to play it yourself, get to know the enemy as much as possible.

If your child has an Internet addiction, you need to be on the lookout every day. Fraudsters, pedophiles, perverts of all stripes have lately been waiting for children not in the alley at home, but on the Internet. See which social media groups your child is in. Did he fall into the so-called death group? These are communities where teenagers are trained to commit suicide. Are there any adults you don't know among his contacts?

It would be unfair to write down all computer games without exception as malicious. Of course, there are educational games that develop logic, thinking, memory.

So, my eldest son once studied the English alphabet. Winnie the Pooh from the game marked 3+ helped him with this. When I noticed that my son in grade 3, instead of lessons, was concentrating on destroying another batch of bloody zombies in Left 4 Dead with a shotgun, and when asked where we would go on the weekend, he answered: “Can I stay at home?”, The question was posed point-blank - either now or never. By that time, the son, by the way, weighed under 70 kilos, was obese in the first stage, and did not want to go to any sections in principle. As soon as he turned away, he grabbed his dinner plate and went to eat at the computer. As a gift for the holidays, I asked for a new game or another disc with the continuation of the game ...

So I brought him to a cadet school, where he put on a military uniform, learned to run and pull himself up, jump with a parachute and disassemble a Kalashnikov assault rifle. At first, he was capricious, of course, incredibly, suffered and complained. When in the fifth grade he announced that he would be a military man, we were almost not surprised. Now he is 17. He graduated with honors from the Stavropol Presidential Cadet School. She studies three foreign languages. This summer he intends to enter a higher military school. His dream is to become a scout.

Peers who spend their free time playing computer games, calls them not a very printed word and wonders how he himself could sit at the computer for so long. Now I am grateful to fate that I was able to discern the symptoms of the onset of addiction in time, and quickly block it. Now I'm looking at my middle son. So far, there is no talk of addiction, but I am always ready.

Other extremes

Once an old friend called me and burst out with a long and detailed text on the topic "How to live further?" Like, "this fool" will not achieve anything in life, because apart from the "computer" he does not need anything. He spends all his free time there and does not want to hear anything. It was about her 13-year-old son. My imagination immediately drew the darkest images, and I promised to stop by the other day and talk to the teenager.

Misha greeted me with a dull semblance of a smile. It was evident how exhausted he was by the constant reproaches and even tantrums from his mother. I went to the table and, to my surprise, found books on programming and graphic design on it. A few questions were enough to understand that the child does not play at the computer. He works for him. With great difficulty, I managed to convince him to shorten the time spent at the monitor at least a little, and my girlfriend - to leave the teenager alone. Now Misha is studying at the university and will soon become a programmer. He is already a recipient of a presidential scholarship and a regular at all kinds of IT events and gatherings of an all-Russian scale.

Conclusion - do not rush to label the child with the labels "gambling addict", "addicted", "sick" ... Understand, figure out what your child wants and dreams about. Whether he is addicted or not, you will understand pretty quickly, and a damaged relationship and a broken contact with a teenager will still cause a lot of trouble. The main thing is to love the child, to accept him with all his oddities and hobbies. But at the same time, love does not go blind and in time to discern the symptoms of impending disaster. If computers have already begun to "consume" the identity of your son or daughter, do not hesitate to ask specialists for help.

Communicate with the parents of other children who have fallen into tenacious virtual paws, share your experience. It is possible and necessary to overcome this dependence. But this can be done only by all together, by joining efforts.

Watch the following videos from GuberniaTV and Channel One about computer addiction in children.

All rights reserved, 14+

Copying of site materials is possible only if an active link is installed on our site.

Slide number 1
Don't run away from reality, because reality is what makes you human.

What is gambling addiction in children? Painful predisposition or a consequence of upbringing? How can you deal with this?

Gambling addiction - the reasons within us.
Today, gambling addiction is one of the most common problems in children's upbringing, which mainly affects children from 8 to 16-18 years old.
Modern children often master computer literacy earlier than language or math: we live in an era of high technology and crazy speeds. In principle, this is neither good nor bad, the main thing is how to dispose of the resources we have. After all, the same computer and the Internet can become both a tool for creativity and obtaining new information, and doping is akin to drugs. Despite the fact that among children and adolescents, computer addiction is acquiring threatening proportions, the public is rather condescending to this fact: they say, it will pass with age. Say, it's better when the child is sitting at home at the computer than hanging out with someone who is not clear where. Computer games are captivating and captivating - but at the same time they emasculate feelings, and real life ceases to be a source of pleasure.

Slide number 2
Many experts agree that such terrible diagnoses as depression, burnout syndrome, chronic fatigue, alcohol and drug addiction, suicidal tendencies, humanity owes precisely to high technologies. The task of parents is to form a child's adequate attitude to the computer world, to make his life so bright, interesting and rich so that no virtual fun can compete with it.
Slide number 3
The child does not feel the difference
Until the age of seven, the child is not able to draw a clear line between fiction and real life. And if at such a tender age the kid "dives" into computer games and TV - they become his reality. But the experience gained in the first seven years of life largely shapes our attitudes and values. What "baggage" does a young gamer get? Agree, the virtual world, at first glance, may seem much more interesting than the real one: the colors are brighter on the monitor, events change at any speed, and you don't need to make any special efforts to win. In psychology, there is such a concept as a sense of life: the ability to be surprised and rejoice at everything that surrounds us, to perceive life as a miracle, to live "here and now." A child immersed in an illusory world is unlikely to be delighted with, say, a blossoming flower - why, if with one click of a computer mouse he can "grow" a virtual jungle on the screen?
Spider-man does not jump on real streets and dinosaurs do not run - but pseudo-reality abounds with characters that excite the imagination.
As a result, the kid becomes uninteresting to explore the world around him, to get to the bottom of things. Such a child sees no other way for himself to receive pleasure, except to go headlong into surrogate emotions and experiences.

Boys are at risk
Most often, it is boys who get into computer addiction. Girls' games - the same mothers and daughters - are continuous emotions, so girls do not need to feed on surrogate feelings. Girls are "allowed" to cry, take offense, throw tantrums. Boys are dominated by a historically formed stereotype: you must be strong. As a result, boys are forced to constantly suppress their true feelings and emotions. In addition, due to the peculiarities of male psychology, the "withdrawal" is more characteristic of the stronger sex. For boys, the "zone of productive loneliness" is vital - for recovery, accumulation of strength, analysis. And if in reality this niche is absent, the teenager will create it artificially. Well, then, the instinct of a winner has been in the blood of men since cave times - that is why boys "get hooked" on all sorts of "shooters" and "adventure games" (girls, if they do play, are more likely to play strategic or logical games).

Where the legs grow from.
To argue that virtual fun is the root of all troubles of "problem" teenagers means confusing cause and effect. After all, “another reality” can only exacerbate existing problems.
In other words, a happy, harmoniously developing child is unlikely to experience an increased craving for the computer world.
“When parents complain at the reception that their child is“ stuck ”on the computer, I invite them to look for the reasons in themselves,” says Svetlana Roiz, child and family psychologist. - I ask mums and dads: “Who first showed a child a computer game? What do you know about your child's addictions, what games does he play? How much time do you spend with your child, what do you talk about? What are some of the brightest events in the child's life in recent months. "
We, parents, must be aware that we are sitting the child in front of the TV, buying him computer games - after all, we have work, washing, cleaning, and often we simply have no time to play other (sports, board) games with the child. This position of the parents drowns out the seeker's instinct in the child, assigning him a more secure, at first glance, role of a spectator.
Addiction (any: alcoholic, emotional, computer) suggests that a person has broken contacts with his immediate environment. Think: how do you communicate with your child, do you have access to his inner world? At the same time, it is important to remember that every phenomenon has both negative and positive sides. Very often very sensitive and creative children with a fine mental organization plunge into the virtual world. The task of the parents is to help the child reach his potential.

Slide number 4
The main reasons for computer addiction can be:
1. Lack of communication with peers and people who are significant for the child.
2. Lack of attention from parents.
3. Uncertainty in oneself and one's strengths, shyness, complexes and difficulties in communication.
4. The tendency of children to quickly "absorb" everything new and interesting.
5. The desire of the child to be "like everyone else" his peers, to follow their hobbies, to keep up.
To some extent, computer addiction, gambling addiction can result from the influence of the school environment. Since when other children are actively discussing games, then your child also wants to take part in their conversations, to be a part of this aspect of school, children's teenage life.
6. The child's lack of hobbies or hobbies, any other attachments not related to the computer.
7. The formation of a child's computer addiction is often associated with the peculiarities of upbringing and relationships in the family.
For example, conflicts in the family, when a child runs away to an Internet club, to the computer world from the world of the present. Why? Because he lives there in another reality, in one where there are no quarrels with his parents, where there are no quarrels between parents, where his life is simple and understandable.

Slide number 5

According to statistics, every fifth - sixth child with signs of computer addiction recovers from computer gambling addiction independently and without consequences.
However, one should not hope that the addiction to computer games in children will go away by itself, the fragile children's psyche may not cope with the influence of the addiction that has arisen.
If long hours in front of the monitor make you anxious for your baby, pay attention to

Signs of computer addiction:
1. A child has an obsessive desire to play on a computer (console, tablet, etc.) He will happily prefer the company of an "iron" friend to any one, even the most beloved one.
2. Friends suddenly disappeared somewhere. If someone comes to visit him, then in order to play together at the computer. He himself goes to his friends for the same purpose.
3. Incomprehensible emotional upsurge, which is abruptly replaced by a bad mood. If you look closely, you will realize that this is all due to virtual successes and failures in the game.
4. Night vigils at the computer and refusal to eat, because there is a "very important battle" on the Web.

Computer addiction develops much faster than any other traditional addiction: smoking, drugs, alcohol, gambling.

Thus, experts identify the main feature of computer gambling addiction - a constant obsessive desire to play computer games.

Slide number 6
The dangers of computer addiction.
1. The computer becomes a powerful stimulus and the main object for communication.
2. At first, the computer can compensate the child for the lack of communication, then this communication may become unnecessary at all.
3. In the process of playing or surfing the Internet, the child loses control over time.
4. A child may show aggression if he is deprived of his access to computer games.
5. The permissiveness and simplicity of achieving the goal in play can affect the child's confidence that in real life it is just as simple and can “start over” the game.

Slide number 7 (continued)

6. Due to neglect of food, vitamin and mineral deficiencies can occur.
7. Continuous exposure for many hours in front of the monitor can cause visual impairment, posture, decreased immunity, headaches, fatigue, and insomnia.
8. Children stop fantasizing, the ability to create visual images decreases, emotional immaturity and irresponsibility are observed.
9. Depression can occur with a long stay without a computer. Home and family fade into the background. There may be learning problems.
10. The child's social circle decreases and, as a result, the lack of life experience, communication experience.
11. The psyche of the child, his worldview may be disturbed.

A child who is addicted to gambling is gradually changing and changing quite dramatically.

Problems with studying at school begin, attention falls, any interests outside of games disappear.
We observe in our school (!) That a child often cannot stop playing in class, at recess, is constantly distracted during the lesson, if some hero “lives” on his phone or other gadget (for example, a “tablet” or (I beg your pardon) "poop"), which needs to be served, cleaned after it, fed, etc., in order to gain the necessary points. It is becoming a craze, with catastrophic engagement. Teachers here are sometimes powerless to change anything. We are not talking about the moral and ethical side of "serving" such heroes of games. To what level of thinking do our children slide down at this moment ???
Or simulation games where children imitate a completely adult relationship with bright intimate components between a guy and a girl. Of course, after such an emotional shock, he will no longer be interested in studying ...

Slide number 8
A lot of scientific studies are devoted to the study of the specifics of interaction of children and adolescents with computers (O. N. Arestova, L. N. Babanin, Yu. D. Babaeva, A. E. Voiskunsky, S. A. Shapkin, M. Cole, etc.) ...
We would like to share with you the results of one of them.

The study involved 146 students in grades 5-6 of secondary schools in Nizhny Novgorod, of which 76 were boys and 71 girls aged 10 to 12 years.
According to the results of the study, it was found that younger adolescents with a high degree of computer gaming enthusiasm have lower indicators of mental abilities than their peers. Perhaps this is due to the fact that, unlike real games with peers, computer games have a destructive component for the full development of a younger adolescent. Computer games, developed according to a given (template) scenario, cannot fully reflect life situations, simplify ways of solving various problems, do not contain moral tasks and thereby contribute to the primitivization of thinking.
When researching self-esteem, we looked at indicators according to criteria such as: confident, capable, happy, sociable, hardworking, quick-witted.
Younger adolescents with a high degree of computer gaming orientation were found to be more confident and less sociable than their peers.
Discrepancies in the level of intelligence of a younger adolescent with his self-esteem may indicate an inadequate attitude towards himself as a result of significant discrepancies between "I am real" and "I am virtual". During the game, the psyche of a younger teenager forms its own virtual world, which has a certain degree of stability. Game reality acts as a kind of transformer of the child's consciousness. In this case, emotions are concentrated around the character of a computer game and the actions that take place with him. The altered state of consciousness is sensitive to the slightest changes in the playing space. The victories of the virtual character are perceived as personal achievements, the child feels like a hero. Victory is positive self-esteem and positive emotions. Play becomes a medium for the formation of personal qualities, an indicator of success. Teenagers who have not undergone role identification in social reality find their image in play.

The predominance of risk appetite in younger adolescents with a high degree of
play computer orientation in comparison with younger adolescents with a low degree of orientation at the level of significance.
A computer game allows a child to experience a special excitement - a feeling of his own success and significance.
The delight of getting the desired result and the excitement of waiting for it become more attractive than all the other joys in life.
Children with a high degree of computer game orientation have low indicators in such parameters of subjectivity as: the ability to reflect, freedom of choice and responsibility for it, understanding and acceptance of another, self-development.
Younger adolescents with a high degree of computer enthusiasm are characterized by insufficiently developed self-control and self-control in the process of activity.
The results of the study testify to the poorly formed ability of computer players for reflection, which is a means of self-knowledge; in life situations, they find it difficult to variably choose the types of activity, social circle and ways of self-expression.
The volitional qualities of the younger adolescents of the first group are significantly lower than in the second group.

When studying the factors of the social environment, it was revealed that in families in which parents often buy computer games for their children, the risk of increased adolescents' involvement with computer games is significant. Most parents have a positive attitude towards the fact that their child has this form of hobby, they do not see the destructive functions of computer games, they specially buy various games so that the child will spend more time at home under parental supervision.
The social circle of younger adolescents with a high degree of computer gaming is mainly reduced to communication with friends and characters of computer games.
All the leisure of such children is mainly reduced to playing at the computer. Low rates of communication with relatives and literary heroes were obtained.
A computer game serves as a means to satisfy those needs of a younger adolescent that are not satisfied in real life, a means of compensating for life's problems. The personality begins to be realized in an illusory game world, and not in the real one, this entails a number of serious problems in the development of the personality, in the formation of self-awareness and self-esteem, as well as in the higher spheres of the personality structure.
Taking into account such age characteristics of younger adolescents as weak volitional regulation, it becomes obvious that computer games provoke children to systematically fail to do their homework, as well as skip school, a child's psychological separation from school is possible with all the ensuing consequences.

“When computer games, Internet chats and TV become the main pastime of a child, first of all, his emotional and sensory sphere suffers,” says Natalya Yeshchenko, Waldorf pedagogy specialist, teacher and art therapist. - Judge for yourself: becoming a superhero in a fictional life is much easier than in a real one. In order to win a virtual victory, mental effort, quick reaction and certain skills are enough. And in real life, success is impossible without the ability to feel, negotiate with people, hear your intuition, and use creativity! Computer games form a distorted view of life, lack of will and passivity, which are hidden behind vivid exploits in the virtual world. Is it any wonder that, having matured, yesterday's gamer refuses to take responsibility for his own destiny ?! In recent years, doctors increasingly have to deal with hyperexcitable, hyperactive children. There is a simple explanation for this phenomenon. For children, especially small ones, it is very important to experience emotions through the body (this happens, for example, during outdoor games). And when the kid is enthusiastically watching a cartoon or driving on virtual rallies, his brain works very intensively. But the body remains static, it does not experience this activity! And then the parents wonder why the child turns the whole house upside down and wakes up every two hours at night.
Slide number 9
Experts note that different types of computer games can affect the child in different ways.
1. The most dangerous are role-playing games with a view "from the eyes" of a computer hero.
This type of games is characterized by the greatest force of "pulling in" or "entering" the game. The specificity here is that the view "from the eyes" provokes the player to complete identification with the computer character, to fully enter the role. After a few minutes of the game (the time varies depending on the individual psychological characteristics and playing experience of the player), the person begins to lose touch with real life, completely concentrating on the game, transferring himself to the virtual world. The player can take the virtual world quite seriously, and consider the actions of his hero as his own. A person develops motivational involvement in the plot of the game.

2. No less dangerous games with a view from the outside on "their" computer hero. This type of games is characterized by a lesser strength of entering the role compared to the previous one. The player sees "himself" from the outside, controlling the actions of the hero of the game. Identification of oneself with a computer character is less pronounced, as a result of which motivational involvement and emotional manifestations are also less pronounced in comparison with games with a view from the eyes.
3. Strategic games, "leadership" are less dangerous, but they can draw the child into a lot. This type is named so because the player is given the right to direct the activities of subordinate computer characters. In this case, the player can act as the leader of a wide variety of specifications: the commander of a special forces detachment, the commander-in-chief of the armies, the head of state, even a "god" who directs the historical process. At the same time, a person does not see his computer hero on the screen, but he comes up with a role for himself. This is the only class of role-playing games where the role is not specified specifically, but is imagined by the player. As a result, the "depth of immersion" in the game and its role will be essential only for people with a good imagination. However, motivational involvement in the game process and the mechanism for the formation of psychological dependence on the game are no less strong than in the case of other role-playing games.
4. This is followed by non-role games: arcades, puzzles, reaction games, gambling.
Slide number 10

Subconsciously, the child chooses exactly those games that most reflect his suppressed needs.
Strategic - the child lacks structure. At the same time, he has potential leadership qualities, such a person can lead others. A positive "substitute" for computer strategies is chess, construction (by the way, "strategists" are the easiest to get rid of the craving for a computer).

Sports - activity is suppressed, perhaps there are some body blocks. If a kid is playing a virtual puck or a ball (team games), he has a great need to be part of a group of peers that is meaningful to him. Switch his attention to real sports fun.

"Shooters", horrors - unlived aggression or suppressed sexuality. By the way, aggression is one of the emotions necessary for the survival of a species (in psychology there is even such a concept: a normal level of aggression). Another thing is how much of it and in what direction it is directed. Such a child needs to move more, and he also needs tactile contacts (hugs, massage) with his parents.

According to the norms of the Ministry of Health, 7-10-year-old children can spend no more than 45 minutes at the computer. per day, 11-13-year-olds - twice for 45 minutes, seniors - three times.

Slide number 11

Who is more addicted to PC games?
1. Children of those parents who most often are not at home.
2. Children of wealthy parents or workaholics who are constantly busy.
3. Children of those adults who are often comfortable that the child is busy and does not distract them with requests for play.
4. Children of parents who are themselves addicted to computers and the Internet.

As the psychologist Anatoly Klivnik notes, the most dependent and, at the same time, undesirable age is 12-15 years.
For one addicted teenage girl there are up to 10 boys, this is due to the fact that the crisis of adolescence is more difficult for boys, and there are many times less computer games for girls.

A child caught in a computer addiction network needs help.

Slide number 12

How to deal with gambling addiction?
1. First of all, don't prohibit. Aggressive parental stance aimed at abrupt, harsh prohibition of play, as a rule, will lead to the establishment of a barrier between the parent and the child. Moreover, the child will still play, but outside the home: at school, with friends, in Internet clubs.
When trying to "pull" a child out of the computer world, parents should act tactfully. The forbidden fruit, as you know, is sweet: the more resistance, the stronger the desire. You cannot take the computer away from a child by force without giving him anything in return.
Stereotyped behavior should be changed. Is the child used to getting hacked for his computer gatherings and undone homework? Experts have proven that if a reaction is repeated 7 or more times, it slides into the subconscious. In other words, the child simply does not hear the reproaches addressed to him, they are nothing more than an annoying background noise for him. To change the situation, try to demonstrate a sincere (!) Interest in the world of your child.
As Russian folk wisdom says: "If drunkenness cannot be prevented, it must be led." So it is here. If gambling addiction is already a reality for you, try to share it with your child. Discuss games with him, weed out those games that contain scenes of violence, induce aggression in him or serve as a source of excessive drive. Play games with him that have a developmental focus. Establish and deepen contact with your child, realizing that gambling addiction is, first of all, a call indicating that we have problems in understanding with our child.

2. Another important aspect is the formation of interests in the child that are not related to the computer world. So, the sports section, where he can practice karate, football, rollerblading, skateboarding, can become a good alternative to gambling addiction, since there he will communicate with other children who also have interests outside the world of games.

And as a result, this will make it possible to ensure a normal healthy balance of interests for our child.

3. Remember that you yourself are an example for your growing baby. If you are constantly sitting "VKontakte" or "classmates", constantly talking on the phone, then, first of all, you show your child that this is how you need to spend time.

You can only awaken a child's interest in real life by example.
Find time for heart-to-heart conversations, read books together, share your experiences, organize leisure activities with your child, play sports, outdoor trips, fishing, ski trails, etc.

Slide number 13

Prevention of addiction to computer games.

1. Personal example of parents - if you allow your child to play for some time a day, then you yourself should not sit at the computer for more time.
2. A list of joint activities, games, circles, additional activities, etc.
Everything should be planned so that the child does not have a free minute.
3. Use the computer as a reward, for effective education, as a reward.
4. It is important to clearly control the games that the child plays. You need to know what the game is and keep track of any deviations in the child's behavior after he has played the game.
Irritability, agitation, insomnia may be observed. All this indicates that either the play time has been exceeded, or the play is not suitable for the child.
5. Give preference to educational games and sites. Discuss with your child those games that you think would be more useful for him to play.
6. Treatment with the "beauty" of reality: to explore the world, museums, theaters, parks, travel, communication with interesting interlocutors.
7. Installation of special network filters and specialized software to control and limit the child's communication with the computer.

Slide number 14
The mental and spiritual state of children is an indicator of the well-being or dysfunction of the whole family. In psychology, there is a concept - an identified patient. It denotes a person whose problem symptom reflects the disharmony that exists within the family. That is, something is disturbed in the family, in the relations of its members with each other, but only one of them is the carrier of the symptom that creates the problem.

When an identified patient appears in the family, for example a child who is dependent on a computer, the whole family, as a rule, sees the problem only in him and asks for psychological help in connection with him, formulating his request: "What to do with him?" or "how to fix it?" It is very difficult for a child to overcome computer addiction if the existing system of relationships in his family does not change, which led to the addicted behavior. If, without understanding this, you try to influence only the child, then it will be almost impossible to achieve good results. The right way out is to restore normal, mature family relationships.
Slide number 15
So, in principle, any child and teenager can become addicted to a computer, but the chances decrease if:
- the family has an atmosphere of friendliness, peace, comfort and trust;
- the child has versatile interests and hobbies;
- the child knows how to establish positive relationships with others;
- the child knows how to set at least the smallest goals.
Slide number 16
The task of every child is to become an adult, independent person, able to make constructive decisions, be responsible for their actions, make informed choices and build their lives based on healthy spiritual and moral principles. The task of adults is to help him in this difficult task. It is important to remember that the foundation of independence and responsibility is being laid gradually, but you should start building it as early as possible.

With the development of computer technology, a huge number of new problems arise. One of them is computer addiction among teenagers. This is what I want to talk about in this article.

What it is?

It would seem that the child is playing computer games, so what? Peace and quiet at home. However, modern psychologists say that today more and more children of primary, middle and senior school age are becoming dependent on computers. What does this mean? Basically, the characteristics of all dependencies are similar. If a drug addict is looking for a dose for days, then the child can look forward to an hour when his parents will allow him to sit at the computer. At this time, the child most often does not find a place for himself, cannot do anything else, toss about the house or apartment. It is worth saying that this problem needs to be treated, otherwise there may be negative consequences.

About term

It should be said that the term "computer addiction" is quite young, it appeared around 1990, when the computer industry began to develop actively. The term defines the state of a person in which he simply cannot live without this machine, spending all his free time in front of its monitor. However, since then, the addiction itself has somewhat transformed and acquired new elements and forms, becoming a problem not for individuals, but for many people of different ages.

Causes

Information about why teenagers can develop computer addiction may seem interesting. So, first of all, this is the usual lack of attention from parents and peers, which the child compensates with the help of such a friend. Now, at a time when various social networks are very popular, this problem has become even more urgent: there the child creates a new image for himself, makes friends and lives not real, but virtual life. In this case, they are not talking about gambling addiction, but about the child's Internet addiction. What else can drive a teenager to another world? Uncertainty in oneself, in one's abilities, perhaps also dissatisfaction with one's appearance (especially if there are some deviations). Often children "sit down" on the computer so as not to differ from their peers (here most often we are talking about gambling addiction, however, with the development of social networks, this trend changes). A child can spend all his free time with a computer if he does not have hobbies or hobbies, and he needs to spend his free time somewhere. And, of course, the manner of communication in the family and upbringing contributes to the development of various addictions. If a child can be at the computer for no more than two hours per day (and it should be), then he simply will not be able to become an Internet addict.

Major dangers

It is also important to say that computer addiction in adolescents is a dangerous business that can entail serious consequences. First of all, being in the virtual world, a person almost never adequately controls the real time, he is often late. The child can constantly skip school, skip classes. A huge problem is the level of aggression that can arise in the process of a computer game. If a teenager does not succeed in something, a storm of emotions arises, and the psyche gradually destabilizes and loosens. This child also transfers to the real world, communicating in this way with his closest environment: parents and friends. The fact that in a computer game, sooner or later, a teenager always succeeds, if not the first time, then from the nth for sure. The child may decide that in real life everything turns out so simply. And this is fraught with consequences and severe disappointment in adult real life. Also, computer addiction in adolescents affects the state of the body. So, as if vision is impaired, there may be vitamin deficiency and other problems associated with improper nutrition (a teenager with computer addiction most often does not eat normally, living only with snacks). Usually, a dependent child does not monitor his appearance, does not follow the rules of personal hygiene.

Types of dependencies

It should be said that addiction to computer games is different. So, today, when a child cannot live without a virtual world, and gambling addiction. In turn, addiction to computer games is divided according to the type of game. So, these are role-playing gamers, when a person looks at the game through the eyes of his hero (those games when the child looks at the hero from the outside are no less dangerous); strategic games that are less dangerous, however, again, are ready to draw the child into their world; non-role-playing games, such as various puzzles, arcades, flash toys. Gambling is especially dangerous in the virtual world, because it often pulls a lot of money from players.

Potential category

Who May Have a Computer Addiction Problem? So, first of all, for those children whose parents are often not at home, and the child is simply left to himself. The same applies to those who are also often at home alone or with service personnel, whose advice they simply do not listen to. There are more dependent adolescents among boys (according to statistics, there is only one dependent girl for 10 boys), as for age, the most dangerous is 12-15 years.

What will addiction entail?

Addiction to computer games can have many negative consequences. So, first of all, the child's circle of friends will gradually decrease, which will lead to complete isolation of the teenager in real life with all the ensuing consequences. Irreversible health changes can also occur. So, this is a violation of vision, metabolism, obesity of various degrees is possible. Over time, the psyche will definitely be disturbed and destabilized. It is also important to say that all the problems of a gambling addict run the risk of moving into adulthood. And this is fraught with huge negative consequences. Also, a child can start stealing, because often the Internet or games require a certain fee. And this is already punishable according to the letter of the law.

How does addiction arise?

After observing addicts, psychologists made interesting and at the same time terrible conclusions. Chemical and computer addiction: their symptoms are almost the same. For such people, for example, at the sight of a desired goal, children begin to study poorly, do not take care of themselves and their appearance, gain (various degrees of obesity due to improper nutrition) or lose weight (they simply forget or are too lazy to eat on time), do not can do nothing else if they have free time. To avoid such a development of events, you need nothing at all: do not let the baby near the TV until the age of three, and even longer to the computer, up to about 10 years. It is at this age that a predisposition to various kinds of addictions arises. However, in our time, unfortunately, it is almost impossible to do this.

The mechanism of addictive behavior

Addictive, i.e. dependent behavior is formed in a child by moving away from real life to virtual life, both with and without the use of various chemicals. The process itself is based on the fact that the child leaves real roles, replacing them with virtual ones, those that are more convenient for him or even close in spirit. The game or the Internet, in its essence, compensates the child for what he lacks in real life. So, if a person is physically weak and cannot fight back his peers, he will have a computer computer. In adolescents who, in real life, will have a place where they can try on various roles and masks (there may be a problem of personality self-identification, which is fraught with consequences), make friends with people who, at first glance, will always understand. However, over time, disappointment can come, because often these friends are imaginary and you will not get special support from them in difficult times.

How to avoid addiction?

To prevent teenagers from becoming addicted to computer games, from the Internet, you need to follow fairly simple but effective rules. So, it is necessary to precisely regulate the time the child spends in front of the monitor, while parents are not prohibited from controlling what their offspring is doing on the Internet. The personal example of adults has a huge influence: if dad spends all his free time in front of the monitor, it is not at all surprising that the child will do the same. You also need to correctly plan your family's free time: spend more time together in nature. What other methods does the prevention of computer addiction in adolescents accept? It's good to load your child as much as possible: send it to circles, to tutors, devote more time to study. Then there will be no time left for games and various addictions. As a radical way, you can limit the child's work at the computer using various programs that are aimed at this.

Nuances

Having identified signs of computer addiction in adolescents, parents should take immediate action. So, it's good to go to a psychologist and make a plan of action with him. Indeed, often parents do wrong, wanting only good for their child. For example, it is not recommended to abruptly prohibit computer games, this will not lead to anything good. It is best to do everything sequentially, slowly reducing the time spent in front of the monitor. It is also necessary to control which games your child liked. After all, not all of them are bad, there are also useful ones that develop intelligence and even have an educational component. And not all the time spent in front of a computer monitor can be called addiction, because a child can simply learn with the help of the Internet.

Treatment

An important point is the treatment of computer addiction in adolescents. It should be said that it will be accompanied by "withdrawal symptoms", which, by the way, can be quite painful not only for a child, but also for adults. Parents will have to withstand several attacks from the child: they can be not only verbal, but also reach the level of assault. The child can also begin to persuade the parents to let them play for at least half an hour, while promising anything. Do not follow the lead, because drug addicts do the same, never keeping up with their word. The position of the parents must be clear and unshakable. At this time, parents will also have a hard time, because they will need to become an entertaining element for their child, so that the child will forget about his hobby at least for a while. More communication and joint activities - this is one of the elements of treatment for addiction. You also need to change your daily routine, which will not be so quick to get used to. Parents can often give up if they don't see any improvement. However, you should not give up this business, because sooner or later the improvement will come, you just need to wait for it. Well, if nothing works on your own, it is better to treat computer addiction in adolescents with the help of specialists.

Close people

Whatever the reasons for a child's computer addiction, the immediate environment should help to cope with it. So, the most important role is, of course, played by the parents, who must devote all their strength to pulling the child into the real world. However, friends, classmates and comrades of the child must also be involved in this business, so that at this time he understands that he is not alone, that, in addition to virtual, he also has a real, no less interesting life. And for everything to work out, you need to organize interesting meetings, outings, trips and holidays. But the most important rule of coping with addiction is to recognize it. The close environment of the child should show the teenager that he is sick, that he has problems, the child must understand this, and only then the treatment will be adequate, and the results are visible.

A teenager with gambling addiction is dissatisfied with real life, he has problems with studies, sleep disorders, changes in the daily routine, aggression, refusal to help. Psychologists compare gambling addiction with drug addiction and alcoholism, it is extremely difficult to get rid of it. To bring a teenager back to normal life, parents need to work together and seek professional help.

What should parents do if a teenager has gambling addiction?

You cannot categorically prohibit the computer. You can, of course, turn off the Internet or throw out the game console, but this will only lead to anger of the teenager, he will find a place outside the house where he can play.

The most effective way to get rid of a teenager's gambling addiction is to pay as much attention to him as possible, spend time together and talk. Analyze the child's day regimen, remember what the whole family does during the day, in the evenings and on weekends. Restrict the use of your computer, but don't ban games entirely. Be sure to explain to your child the reason for all the changes.

Diversify the life of a teenager and family: arrange joint trips to the cinema, go out into nature more often, take up sports education of the child. If you forbid constantly sitting at the computer, do not spend much time at the monitor yourself.

Psychologist's help with gambling addiction

If a child is completely immersed in the virtual world and does not notice anything around, parents are unlikely to be able to correct the situation without the help of specialists. First, you need to contact a school psychologist, and if he is powerless, find an experienced psychotherapist. Psychocorrection, constant attention and care of parents will help a teenager get rid of gambling addiction.

Prevention of gambling addiction

The basis of prevention is a happy family environment. A child should not feel lonely and unnecessary. Parents will prevent the development of gambling addiction if they show their children how wonderful and diverse real life is. Spend your free time together: go hiking, walk in the park, visit an ice rink or pool. And most importantly, build friendship and trust in your family.

It is difficult to get rid of a teenager from gambling addiction. This can only be done by loving parents and experienced psychologists, and so that the child does not return to the virtual world, one must not forget about preventive measures.

Parents are often afraid of computer addiction in children. But in the modern world, people are forced to spend most of their time in virtual space. The line between escaping reality, heavy addiction, and adequate computer use is often subtle. How to distinguish it? How can I help addicted children?

Computer addiction is a broad concept. Psychologists divide it into two types - cyber-addiction - addiction to computer games and networkholism - unhealthy addiction to the Internet.

Cyberdiction

Addiction to video games was once the main "horror story" of journalists. Stories about a boy who killed his parents because of the ban on gambling, about gambling addicts sitting in front of a screen for days, about stealing money for purchases in the virtual space (Donat) wandered around parental sites. In many ways, the danger was exaggerated, but there is no smoke without fire - gambling addiction exists. It is caused by various factors - for esports disciplines such as Dota or WOT, the reason is excitement. If the game is personalized - that is, the player tries on a certain role - the reason becomes an escape from reality, problems, failures. Examples of such video games are single-player shooters, quests, RPGs, strategies. The fascination with them is similar to the fascination with books by romantic teenagers.

Multiplayer online role-playing games such as World of Warcraft or TES Online carry certain risks. It is virtually impossible to pass them, but the player has to continuously engage in "pumping" the character in order to take a rank in the hierarchy of other gamers. With gambling addiction, children lose interest in the world around them.

Setegolism

The second type of computer addiction is networkholism. Here the parent should be wary. Children and especially adolescents are able to spend hours in social networks. Social networks give some people the opportunity to try on a different look by creating a "fake". For others, on the contrary, they have become a tool to attract attention.

Internet surfing is a separate problem. This is aimless wandering through links from one web page to another, akin to surfing the waves. Time spent doing such an activity flies away unnoticed. Sometimes a person himself is not aware of the risk. The reason for Internet surfing is the need to continuously absorb unnecessary amount of information - funny videos, anecdotes, funny pictures and other information foam.

The main symptoms of a gambling addict and a seteholic

Parents are familiar with the picture - the child stares at the screen of a tablet or computer, ignoring the world around him. Responds after a loud cry, very irritated. He prefers gadgets to TV, books, "traditional" toys.

Previously, it was considered a computer addiction to spend more than one or two hours behind the screen. Nowadays, the constant pastime in the virtual space has become the norm. Where can you find the delicate line between adequate computer use and addiction?

Psychologists identify ten signs of computer addiction in children.

Influence of gambling addiction and setegolism on the body

Often a parent resigns himself to the fact that the child spends all the time on the Internet or playing. But addiction, in addition to neglected studies, leads to more serious consequences:

1. Sitting at the computer for a long time increases the likelihood of developing hypodynamia. Lack of activity leads to muscle weakness. The person begins to suffer from shortness of breath. Obesity is a consequence of hypodynamia.
2. A constant companion of limited mobility is problems with the spine. A person who is inseparably sitting at a computer, does not have the willpower to get up and stretch, begins to suffer from stoop and osteochondrosis. There is a possibility of developing a disease such as carpal tunnel syndrome, accompanied by pain in the fingers and numbness.

The straining of the spine in the neck area leads to interruptions in the supply of oxygen to the brain. The consequence of this is mild vegetative-vascular dystonia - headache, fatigue, dizziness.

1. Spending too much time in front of a computer, tablet or phone will impair vision. Of course, modern screens are much better than the giant picture tubes that were still used ten years ago, but they also do not guarantee one hundred percent protection.

Constant use of gadgets increases the risk of developing "dry eye syndrome" - the user begins to complain of redness, a feeling of "sand in the eyes", constant itching.

1. Often gambling addicts or networkholics suffer from psychological stress. Contrary to popular belief, violent games have little direct impact on humans. However, a long repetition of monotonous actions in the game causes fatigue, "burnout".

Features of the relationship between children and the computer

An interesting fact - boys aged 12 to 15 are susceptible to computer addiction. Many adults will agree with this statement.

Consequently, gambling addiction is inherent in all ages (a classic example is the struggle with playing "office plankton" at work), but in children addiction to games and the Internet has a number of features that increase the risk of addiction. Before talking about the fight against gambling addiction, you need to tell about them.

Today's guys - born after 2001 - belong to the conventional "Generation Z". They were surrounded by gadgets almost from birth, and this is a fact that is worth accepting. Young people with a phone or tablet in their hands can read Tolstoy or watch an educational film - this is more convenient for them than trudge to the library for a paper book or beat off the TV from their grandmother.

However, the use of a tablet as a book or a TV set forms “clip thinking” - children assimilate information superficially, jump from topic to topic, “spread their thoughts along the tree”. An effective way to cope with clip thinking is the Pomodoro method - performing a monotonous action - reading or watching for 25 minutes, having a short rest, continuing to work. This will help your daughter or son learn to control and value their time.

The second feature of Gen Z is total alienation. The Internet is filled with the nostalgia of adults for times without a computer, when they disappeared in the courtyards for days. But we must understand that in the conditions of a modern metropolis there is no that atmosphere of friendliness. A street for a teenager, especially one who lives in some area of \u200b\u200bprefabricated buildings, is a hostile world filled with hooligans and criminals. It is easier for him to find friends with the same interests on the Web.

Alienation also arises in school. Misunderstanding of classmates, the cult of consumption, where the best is not considered a talented or capable teenager, but the one who bought the original "hype gear", also push children into the virtual world.

Finally, estrangement manifests itself in the family. Adults who are busy with work often forget about children. Sometimes, on the contrary, meticulous parents pull them into their world with a summer residence and serials, which is no less alien to an impressionable and poetic nature.

Fight against gambling addiction and setegolism

So, before starting the fight against computer addiction, an adult should understand the reasons for the formation of this addiction in a child.

Psychologists often advise to play with him. Shouts, lectures, threats will only alienate you from the child. Try to figure out the type of game and the motive of the children to play it - sports excitement or escape from the world.

If the child goes into play because of rejection of the environment, give him attention. There are times when parents, on the contrary, act too intrusively. Show interest in the hobbies of your son or daughter, rather than drag them into yours.

Find the root cause of your escape from reality. Rejection at school, unhappy love, a load that would break an adult too - any problem can be solved, but it is a separate topic.

Often on sites, talking about the dangers of computers and tablets, they recommend sports or hobbies as an alternative. It helps, but only if the child shows interest in them.

Once you've reached an understanding, try to explain that playing games or doing something online is just one of the many hobby options.

The child's constant pastime for a certain game, unhealthy excitement are a cause for serious alarm. This is a disease. It is better to consult a psychotherapist here, as it looks like the beginning of a real gambling addiction.

Other types of entertainment are also a good remedy against gambling addiction, but here it is also important to understand that this should be of interest to children and cannot replace the advice of a psychologist.

One wise man said, "There are no good things or bad things - our thinking makes them that way." It will depend on our attitude to the computer and other gadgets whether they will bring us and our children benefit or harm.

Alena is a permanent expert of the PupsFull portal. She writes articles on psychology, parenting and learning, and child play.

Articles written