Jan Gerber, founder of world-leading recovery clinic Paracelsus Recovery, said he has treated children as young as 14 and has even been approached by parents of younger kids, but legally cannot treat them
Children aged as young as 14 are being treated for social media addiction, a top rehab boss has warned.
Growing numbers of kids are being treated for the disease by psychiatrists after becoming hooked on attention-grabbing apps such as TikTok and Instagram. In an exclusive interview, Jan Gerber, founder of world-leading recovery clinic Paracelsus Recovery, told the Mirror: “This is a massive epidemic.
“The algorithms are being designed to hijack the reward system [in the brain]. These are all dopaminergic activities. Scrolling is one thing, but collecting likes or comments that’s levelled up – that’s all designed to get people hooked.
“And when the brain is still being formed, it’s much more vulnerable at a younger age and at that young age they’re not equipped to resist that. It’s like digital crack cocaine.”
Mr Gerber said he has been approached by parents of children even younger than 14, but legally cannot treat them at his clinic in Switzerland. He added he is also seeing young patients becoming hooked on online gaming on phones and tablets before running up massive bills on their parents’ bank cards after buying so-called loot boxes within games.
He said: “It’s like going to the casino. You could win big, but also you can get nothing at all. It’s designed to be it addictive.”
Asked what warning signs of social media addiction, parents should look out for, Jan said: “The most obvious is the amount of screen time or app use time. Social withdrawal is another, like a faked headache or tiredness like I’m going to bed early and so on, but actually they’re using the phone or tablet under the blanket. These are tell-tale signs.
“And also hobbies being given up, causing social connections to basically fizzle out or not happen anymore.”
Mr Gerber admits treating the disease is “super difficult” and “takes time”. But he says doctors at his clinic have recently had success by treating young patients with a system of playing style cards to help them cope with and express their feelings.
Australia imposed a social media ban on under-16s in December and Prime Minister Keir Starmer is now poised to announce a ban for under 16s using sites like Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and TikTok, on Monday.
Jan believes an outright ban is unlikely to succeed because it would likely make children want to experience it more. But he believes the government must take action and that moves such as restricting children’s screen time to a maximum of one hour per day, may be more effective.
He said: “We cannot expect self-regulation, so the only way is to regulate.”