Dr. Anna Lembke

it is inevitable that that child will get into this loop of addiction where they get into a state of craving and withdrawal when they don't have their drug.

So when I see these kids and the extent to which they're emotionally dysregulated when they don't... Yeah, that's what's happening, dysregulation.

Yeah, yeah.

They're in withdrawal, right?

I mean, they're in withdrawal.

They're afraid because now they've basically become dependent on this drug.

On the dopamine, on the hit.

That's right.

In order to manage their everyday lives, right?

To manage anxiety or depression or loneliness.

But even separate from that, once our brains are repeatedly exposed to any reinforcing substance or behavior,

we essentially adapt to that reinforcer such that over time we need more in order to feel the same response.

And when we're not getting it, we are literally in withdrawal.

And the universal symptoms of withdrawal from any substance or behavior are anxiety,

irritability, insomnia, depression, and craving for that drug.

So again, I see these kids and I really feel like... So they're not spoiled.

They're not spoiled.

That's the point.

They're addicted.

They're addicted and they're really victims of... They're suffering in that moment.