Addiction today is no longer limited to narcotic substances or ingested drugs. Rather, it has taken a more accurate form in this digital age, where it appears in the form of applications promoted as free entertainment, while its real cost is collected by depleting a person’s awareness and mental health.
This is what specialists have drawn attention to regarding what is known as “behavioral cocaine,” a phenomenon that is silently expanding in scope and represents a serious challenge that affects individual awareness and societal security at the same time.
Dr. Mohamed Mohsen Ramadan, head of the Artificial Intelligence Unit at the Arab Research Center, explained that this type of addiction does not depend on chemicals, but rather on seemingly natural behavioral patterns, such as excessive attachment to notifications and continuous interaction with digital platforms without stopping.
He added that these platforms operate with algorithms specifically designed to exploit human weaknesses and stimulate reward centers in the brain in the same ways as traditional drugs, which leads to an abnormal rise in dopamine levels, and the user loses control of his attention.
He pointed out that the effects do not appear immediately, but rather accumulate gradually to appear in the form of deterioration in the ability to concentrate, sleep disturbances, and an increase in anxiety, in addition to weakness in critical thinking and making sound decisions, until these symptoms become part of the individual’s daily behavior.
Ramadan also pointed out that this digital exhaustion makes users more vulnerable to cybercrime, as their ability to analyze and discriminate decreases, making them victims of electronic fraud, media misinformation, and various forms of digital blackmail.
In turn, Major General Khaled Hamdi, the former Assistant Minister of the Interior of Egypt, transferred this phenomenon from its psychological dimension to the security framework, considering that “behavioral cocaine” has become a direct threat to societal security.
He stressed that weakening collective awareness facilitates the process of directing public opinion and following rumors and misleading content, especially in light of the use of artificial intelligence tools to achieve suspicious goals.
Hamdi stressed that children and adolescents are the most vulnerable to this type of addiction, due to the incomplete development of their brain control centers, describing digital platforms as operating within what is known as the “attention economy,” where the user’s focus turns into a commodity sold to advertisers, without any consideration of ethical or health aspects.
He called for adopting a comprehensive strategy for confrontation, based on including the concepts of “cyber-education” in educational and media policies, and strengthening the role of the family in conscious digital censorship, in addition to developing legislation that balances technological innovation and the protection of human awareness.
Major General Hamdi concluded by emphasizing that the concept of cybersecurity is no longer limited to protecting systems and data, but rather now includes protecting the human mind from manipulation, warning that losing control of attention gradually leads to losing freedom of choice, making confronting this phenomenon a priority to protect the future of future generations. (Arabic)
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