Addiction expert on Davina McCall show likens iPads to ‘digital heroin’ and says kids under 10 should NEVER have their own
Dr Nicholas Kardaras coined the term “digital heroin” last year after “very clearly seeing the parallels between screen addiction” and substance abuse
AN ADDICTION expert claims children under the age of 10 should never have their own technological devices, likening them to “digital heroin”.
Dr Nicholas Kardaras has worked with more than 1,000 teens during the last 15 years, and has been active in advocating that screen addiction be recognised as a clinical disorder akin to substance abuse.
The 53-year-old former clinical professor, from New York, who will be appearing on tonight’s edition of The Davina Hour, realised the “dark side of screen culture” a decade ago.
“I first experienced a screen addict 10 years ago when a 16-year-old boy was referred to my clinic,” he exclusively told The Sun Online.
“He was a gamer who would play World of Warcraft for 10 hours a day. He was in the full blown state of video dream psychosis.
“Essentially he was in the matrix – he didn’t know what was real and what wasn’t. He had to be psychiatrically hospitalised for a month to tether himself to reality.”
Dr Kardaras coined the term “digital heroin” last year after “very clearly seeing the parallels between screen addiction” and substance abuse.
Writing in , he said “iPads, smartphones and Xboxes are a form of digital drug” that transform kids into "psychotic junkies". He claims screens “increase depression, anxiety and aggression”.
He told The Sun Online: “I’m not attempting to trivialise heroin addiction, and I’m certainly not saying it’s as fatal.
“But we are clearly seeing, clinical and neurologically, screens impacting the brain the same way as substance addiction.”
Dr Kardaras claims screens affect the frontal cortex of the brain (the bit that controls impulsivity and allows us to make choices) just like class A drugs.
“Studies have shown with cocaine and heroin addiction, grey matter effectively shrinks, which leads to a compromised frontal cortex. This is exactly the same as young people on screens,” he said.
He also claims that “video games can be as dopamine activating as a sexual experience”.
“I call it a brain orgasm for seven year olds,” he said. “They’re not neurologically equipped to have something so dopamine activating.
“You’re giving something dopamine activating to young children who don’t have the impulse control, they don’t have fully developed brains and frontal cortex’s yet.
“They don’t have the neurological apparatus to control something like that.”
Dr Kardaras “is not anti-technology” but believes children “aren’t neurologically developed enough to handle something as powerful as a screen experience”.
He added: “I think children under 10 shouldn’t have individual screen devices – they’re own smart phones and iPads. Some desktop computer exposure is okay but definitely no portal devices before the age of 10.”
Dr Kardaras believes adults have been “lulled” into thinking screens are okay for their children, and that it’s okay to use them as “digital babysitters”.
“Parents have bought the false narrative that screens are educational,” he said.
How is tech addiction treated?
- The Nightingale Hospital in London is the first to launch a Technology Addiction Service, which aims to help people socialise more away from screens
- Treatment is based on the individual, but will often include interpersonal therapy, tech hygiene and a look at life skills and health
- Interpersonal therapy focuses on how tech is impacting the way the person communicated and interacts with others
- Tech hygiene look at a person's realtionship with tech. It will often include things like relaxation, sleep therapy and CB
- Life skills and health & helps the person deal with the demands of daily life, as well as things like increasingly physical activity and nutrition
“I spent 10 years researching this and there’s not one study that shows a child with a tablet has better educational outcomes than a low technology child. Kids with less technology tend to do better academically.”
Dr Kardaras says there are a number of warning signs to look out for if you fear your child is addicted to their screen.
“The symptoms are very similar to if you’re addicted to substances,” he said.
“A person engages in a substance and forms behaviour so compulsively despite adverse impacts in their life.”
He says tech addiction can negatively impact their school studies, relationships with friends or family, as well as other hobbies such as sport or music.
He also warns children can throw “explosive” tantrums if the device is taken away, and the child can become “very moody and aggressive” when screen time is been controlled.
Unfortunately, there is not healthy time limit on which children should use devices per day.
“There is no absolute rule, every child is different,” he said. “Some children are more vulnerable to screen effects than others. There is no absolute guideline.
“Some children are able to tolerate fairly long periods of screen time, while others are not. You need to know your own child, how much the screen arouses them.”
Dr Kardaras appears on The Davina Hour to discuss screen addiction, and how we should all be more tech cautious.
“We need to be more tech cautious with our children and ourselves,” he said.
“If adults have problems moderating our use of it, how do we expect a seven year old to have the impulsive control over something parent struggle with?”
Last month, we revealed how a seven-year-old boy developed a tech addiction after playing violent video games for six hours a day.
Meanwhile, inside the secretive world of Chinese internet addiction camps where teens are beaten, tied up and plied with drugs to ‘cure’ their obsession with computer games.
The Davina Hour concludes tonight at 9pm on W. The series boxset will be available on UKTV Play from 1 December.