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Every single day, the outpatient psychiatric clinic for children and adolescents at Kukuljevićev sees about 15 kids from the Washington, D.C. area struggling with computer addiction.
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif,verdana,geneva]WASHINGTON, D.C.— "Mom, make me a sandwich..." That’s how a 10-year-old girl messaged her mother from her bedroom via computer after spending hours lost in the digital void.
The virtual world is isolating more and more kids, pulling them into a deep sense of solitude and fueling a modern epidemic: screen addiction. It's creating a whole new wave of patients right here in the capital.
Binge-watching and endless scrolling lead to total isolation, neglected responsibilities, insomnia, and depression.
Take Anti, for example. He's 14 years old. For an entire year, he spent every waking hour "slaying" enemies in fantasy video games, completely submerged in a fictional realm. He eventually dropped out of school because he simply couldn't pull himself away from the screen.
The boy speaks rapidly, his thoughts racing so fast they're almost impossible to follow. Parents often bring their children to us due to behavioral issues, but many kids come forward on their own, admitting they live entirely within chats, games, and web surfing. Most of them come from homes dealing with significant parental conflict, says The Washington Post Enes Kušmić, the director of the outpatient clinic.
Treatment involves a mix of individual sessions, group therapy, and counseling for parents. Some kids even require antidepressants because, just like any other addiction, pulling them away from the computer triggers intense withdrawal symptoms. The patients are typically between 8 and 14 years old; currently, the group consists of 12 boys and 3 girls. At Kukuljevićev, treatment can last anywhere from six months to three years.
When we limit their screen time to just one hour a day, they often spiral into fits of rage. Our mission is to help these young people find their way back to the real world, concludes Enes Kušmić. "
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