QUlla of young people, It is a generation of always connected boys, yet deeply suffering from solitude. Behind the screens of smartphones, behind the shared smiles on social media, in fact, they hide an growing discomfort that is well framed by the numbers: The increase in mental disorders between teenagers is no longer a marginal phenomenonbut a national emergency that requires immediate and structured attention. To launch yet another alarm bell is Stefano VicariProfessor of child neuropsychiatry at the Faculty of Medicine of the Catholic University and full professor of Child Neuropsychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Catholic University of the Sacred Heartthrough his latest book Interrupted teenagersa deep and urgent analysis of the fragility of a generation that risks getting lost in the meanders of an increasingly intrusive digital connectivity.
Loneliness and mental disorders among teenagers: when technology becomes a trap
The data is merciless. A child spends on average 6 hours a day with a mobile device in his handwhile teenagers reach tips of 9-12 hours daily. It is not only lost time, but a real process of erosion of the fundamental experiences for growth: the game, reading, listening to music, real encounters with friends. “The new addictions – explains Vicari in an interview with AGI – have a devastating way on the mental health of the boys. The addiction to the Internet is perhaps the main reason why young people get sick today Much more than in the past ».
An alarming picture
But the addiction is not only that on the smartphone, there is also the immense use of cannabinoids, with children already starting at the first average: “New and old addictions – explains Vicari – who have a devastating impact on mental health ». And in front of this reality, a paradoxical fact emerges: Parents increasingly controlling on the autonomous activities of the boyslike going to school alone, but surprisingly not worried about smartphones, tools potentially much more dangerous.
Youth discomfort and solitude increase. The neuropsychiatrist Stefano Vicari launches his appeal through the new book “Interrupted teenagers”. (Getty)
Beyond the pandemic: the deep roots of solitude
Looking at the causes, attributing this crisis to the difficult years of pandemic, would be too simplistic. And, in fact, Vicari is categorical: The phenomenon has much deeper roots. Already since 2010, before the Covid-19 emergency, a significant increase in access to the emergency room for problems related to mental health was observed. A fact that makes you think: The youngest girl hospitalized for attempted suicide was just 9 years old. An age in which you should still be immersed in innocence and game, not struggling with such a deep suffering, explains the neuropsychiatrist.
Invisibility stories: when parents do not see
Among the most touching cases, Vicari recalls the episode of a young patient who wore a heavy sweatshirt in the height of summer. Only when the girl took off her shirt, The mother discovered her arms covered with scarsa sign of a self -harm practiced for some time. “The most excruciating phrase – he says – was when the girl said to her:” He was needed because you realized what I have been doing for some time “. A very hard warning aimed at a generation of distracted parentstoo often happy to delegate education to others or electronic devices.
Vicari’s appeal to the educating community
Vicari’s book is not only a complaint, but a manifesto for a renewed collective responsibility. His recommendations are clear and articulated: first of all, rigorously limit the use of smartphones for children under 12 years. It follows, carefully monitor content and navigation times and guarantee regular sleep rhythms. Again, privilege live social interactions and be present, even in silence, to encourage communication. Finally, but very important: Don’t be afraid to ask for professional help.
The investment lacking in youth discomfort
But there is still one last, bitter, given: In Italy there is very little in mental health, and even less in that of minors. The National Health Service pays in a condition of serious difficulty, leaving thousands of young people in fact without adequate support. Interrupted teenagersIt is therefore much more than a book. Is a Careful appeal to reconstruct links, to return to look at our young people in the eyes, to understand them in their fragility and in their immense potential. Because, as Vicari recalls, adolescence biologically lasts up to 25 years. A crucial period for the formation of identity, relational skills and emotional development, which technology, used as it is used, can abruptly interrupt by creating serious inconvenience also for future life.
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