Increasingly, parents of teenagers come to me with the question that their child suddenly became sad, lost interest in the things he used to love, became irritable, aggressive. And seemingly ordinary complaints for a teenager age. But no. What is the difference, why do these teenagers stand out? Normally, unmotivated mood swings are observed in adolescence. Outbursts of irritability and anger are replaced by tearfulness or a joyful, calm state. This is due to the activity of the hormonal system, which is in the active phase of maturation and restructuring. For the teenagers I’m writing about now, their mood changes only when they have a phone in their hands and short videos on social networks flash on the screen, or when they are deprived of this. When parents try to take the phone away from a teenager, not only does his mood change, he leaves into this state headlong and does not find the strength to return to a normal state. In this case, there may be pronounced, long-term aggressive behavior directed at parents or, on the contrary, hysterics, tears and a persistent decrease in mood, even to the point of refusal to eat and sleep. All these symptoms are similar to those of drug addiction. But these teenagers do not seem to take any drugs. Where do the symptoms come from then? From watching short videos. In the process of watching short videos, hormones of joy and pleasure are released, one of which is dopamine. This is exactly the type of addiction that occurs in the “children of Tik Tok.” If a person continues to “encourage” himself in this way, the brain gradually adapts to the artificially increased level of dopamine, while producing it itself in smaller quantities. This encourages the addict to increase the dose in order to regain pleasant sensations, because euphoria suddenly gives way to depression and depression. At the same time, motivation and the ability to obtain this hormone through other activities are reduced, since this takes more time. The teenager finds himself in a vicious circle of addiction, and immediately at the psychological level. What to do? As with any addiction, the help of a specialist is necessary. And both for the teenager himself and for the parents. You can cope if you exclude the consumption of “narcotic” substances, in this case watching short videos. At the same time, it will take time to again replace the quick but unstable receipt of dopamine with a long-term and sustainable one, through sports, creativity, communication, sleep, and nutrition. What exactly will help your child return to normal life with a stable emotional background can be understood by working with a psychologist. Take care of your children! The sooner you see that your child is “stuck” on short videos and take action, the faster and easier you can help him cope with this and not fall into dopamine addiction.