📩 25/09/2023 14:12
Yeditepe University Faculty of Education, Department of Guidance and Psychological Counseling. Lecturer Member Serdar Körük gave information about the risks of the digital world and ways to establish a healthy relationship with it.
Stating that with the development of technology, humanity has separated itself from nature, concrete reality, face-to-face communication, customary forms of relationships and work habits in the last twenty years, Yeditepe University Faculty of Education, Guidance and Psychological Counseling Department Dr. Lecturer Serdar Körük said, “Of course, this creates some psychological and emotional complications. "The process of moving away from one's own reality, which we call dissociation, can begin." said. Stating that the relationship with the digital world is inevitable, Dr. Lecturer Member Körük said, “This relationship must be a healthy one and its foundations must be laid in childhood and adolescence. The digital world is an important provider of our needs, but as a human being, it is not possible to meet all our needs here. This should not be forgotten.” he said.
“Do not turn the digital world into an object of pleasure”
Dr. Lecturer Member Serdar Körük listed the digital detox steps we can take to return to our own reality and regain our balance as follows:
“We should not turn the digital world into an object of pleasure, we should not use it for pleasure, having fun, feeling valuable and competent, trying to establish relationships and similar purposes, and if we do, we should reduce it. Spending time on social media, playing games in the online world and similar activities provide us with a certain amount of pleasure. Even if they do, we should not use them as a compensatory mechanism to feel good and get rid of our anxiety. We should set limits for ourselves when it comes to using the digital world and spending time in this environment, and if we cannot, we should get psychological support on this issue. We should try to maintain our social and close relationships in the real and concrete world as much as possible. The digital world offers us many reinforcers, and as these reinforcers are received, individuals want more. In online game addiction, the individual's receiving rewards, skipping levels, and having a high profile can be given as examples of these reinforcers. Reinforcers received in the digital world cannot replace real-life reinforcers. This distinction needs to be made well. Otherwise, the individual may gradually create two different self-perceptions. If the individual feels very social, successful, valuable and has status in the digital world, but his profile in the real world does not match this, this will lead to a separation. Regular sports activities, social and intellectual activities (cinema, theater, fairs, etc.) and academic/professional activities protect individuals from turning to the digital world because these activities offer real-world reinforcers to the individual. Instead of protecting ourselves from the digital world, we should use it appropriately and for specific purposes. Use your free time for purpose instead of spending it on social media. For example, you can review a travel page if it is in your area of interest. “We should use the digital world to gain information, share information, learn something, teach something and similar productive purposes.”
Are the steps adults and young adults need to take different?
Serdar Körük said, “No, I don't think it is very different. As with all addictions, we see developmental progression in technology addiction variants from childhood to adolescence and from adolescence to adulthood. Nowadays, the number of adults who are addicted to online games is increasing rapidly because these individuals have grown up with technology. "An adult individual can normally regulate and control himself better than a young individual, but if this skill has not already been developed in childhood and adolescence, it will be difficult to develop it in the following years." he said.