Dopamine Boosting and Attention Weakness: Beware of Digital Drugs Inside Your Phone

SadaNews - Addiction is no longer just a chemical substance that is injected or swallowed; in the digital age, it has become "packaged as an app" and is passed off as free entertainment, while the real price is paid with human awareness and mental health.

This was revealed by specialists to "Al Arabiya.net" and "Al Hadath.net" regarding the phenomenon of behavioral cocaine, which has become one of the most dangerous silent challenges threatening societal security and human awareness.

Dr. Mohamed Mohsen Ramadan, head of the Artificial Intelligence Unit at the Arab Center for Research, warns that this addiction relies on seemingly "normal" behaviors, such as compulsive attachment to notifications and constant interaction with platforms.

Exploiting Human Weakness

He explained that these platforms are operated through algorithms precisely designed to exploit human weakness and stimulate the reward centers in the brain using the same mechanisms as traditional narcotics, leading to an unhealthy increase in dopamine levels and a loss of attention control.

This gradually reflects a decline in concentration, sleep disturbances, increased anxiety, and weakened critical thinking and rational decision-making abilities, emphasizing that these effects do not appear suddenly but accumulate slowly until they become part of the individual's daily behavior.

Ramadan confirmed that this digital depletion makes individuals easy prey for cybercrimes, as their ability for critical analysis falls, making them victims of fraud, misinformation, and digital blackmail.

For his part, Major General Khaled Hamdi, former Assistant Minister of Interior in Egypt, shifted the phenomenon from the psychological sphere to the security aspect, confirming that behavioral cocaine has become "a direct threat to societal security." In his conversation with "Al Arabiya.net" and "Al Hadath.net," he noted that weakening collective awareness facilitates succumbing to rumors and misleading content, which could be exploited by suspicious agendas to destabilize or steer public opinion through artificial intelligence tools.