In recent years, technology has become an integral part of our daily lives, and screen use has significantly increased among children. There are major concerns about the impact these technologies can have on mental health, especially regarding the social and emotional development of children.
On "Present Parents", a show moderated by the editor-in-chief of ParintisiPitici.ro, Loredana Iriciuc, clinical psychologist Marius Zamfir, a human microbiome specialist and president of the Association for Child Mental Health, was asked if virtual autism can lead to the clinical form of classic autism.
"Yes!" responded the clinical psychologist.
According to Marius Zamfir, the originator of the term "virtual autism," a profound understanding of autism as a disorder of neuroconnectivity is essential in analyzing this issue. The expert emphasizes that early intervention is crucial, as the brain structures itself over time based on stimuli and interactions with the surrounding environment.
"If we truly understand what autism is, it's a disorder of neuroconnectivity. That's why early intervention is very important! The more time passes, the more the brain structures itself in that way", said the president of the Association for Child Mental Health on "Present Parents", a show by ParintisiPitici.ro.
Marius Zamfir recounted his experience with children presenting the institutionalization syndrome, a phenomenon that caught his attention as early as 2004. This syndrome is defined by the sensory-motor and socio-affective neglect experienced by abandoned children in placement centers, where insufficient staff and poor living conditions create a toxic environment for their development.
"In my study, for example, I established a causal link with the institutionalization syndrome and the Mowgli syndrome.
The institutionalization syndrome refers to those children who were born normal, naturally. Unfortunately, or fortunately, around 2004, I saw children with this institutionalization syndrome. At that time, I didn't know what they had seen. They were teenagers, somewhere between 14 and 18 years old.
At that time, autism wasn't as widely known. So I asked them: how did you manage to gather so many children with autism in one place? And then they told me they didn't have autism, they had the institutionalization syndrome.
And I said: well, what does that mean? 'Well, you see, the children were born normal, but they were abandoned in placement centers. After the Revolution, most of the medical assistants, and caregivers there left abroad, we had one caregiver for 50 children, and as a result, these children experienced significant sensory-motor and socio-affective deprivation.'
The institutionalization syndrome was often called autism-like, meaning a mild form of autism. What was observed in the recovery of these children is that when they were taken out of placement centers and placed in families, generally around the age of 3-4, their prognosis was very favorable.
So, when caregivers started being actively involved, the children began to develop their social mechanisms again, their neuronal development mechanisms. They were just deprived in this regard", said Marius Zamfir.
The President of the Association for Child Mental Health explains that the Mowgli syndrome is associated with children raised by wild animals. It involves lost, abandoned, or discarded children raised by wolves or other animals. There have even been similar cases in Romania. In these situations, children are discovered at various ages, from 6 to 12 years old, and subsequent intervention for their recovery is often impossible.
"As we age, we go towards the Mowgli syndrome. These are the children raised by animals. We had a lot of clinical cases, 50-100 years ago, including in our country.
Lost, abandoned, discarded children, generally raised by wolves. Wolves would take in and raise these children. These children were found at 6, 7, 10, and 12 years old, but not much could be done with them anymore.
The brain has windows of opportunity where it develops its social mechanisms. For example, attachment theory states that an adult's attachment base will be fixed based on the interaction they have in the first 2 years of life with their parents. If parents do not provide attachment, care, or mechanisms for the child to develop empathy in the brain, those respective areas of the brain atrophy, and they do not develop properly", Marius Zamfir further explained.
PHOTO: freepik.com @satura86
Clinical psychologist Marius Zamfir brings up an important aspect of brain development in children, emphasizing the significance of windows of opportunity where they store essential information for later development. The expert explains that in the early stages of life, between 0 and 2 years old, children have certain brain areas active during dreamless sleep, a period when the brain rests but at the same time processes and stores the information received during the day. Between 2 and 6 years old, the child's brain enters the theta state.
"The windows of opportunity in the brain close more and more. For example, a child between 0 and 2 years old has some brain waves that we have during dreamless sleep, which is why we don't have memories. But during this period, the child stores a lot, a lot of information. The brain in dreamless sleep relaxes, and rests, it doesn't stay still, but it does indeed rest, but especially sorts the information very well.
Between 2 and 6 years old, the child's brain is in the theta waves, the waves we encounter during dream sleep. That's why we have memories here, somewhere, but like in a dream. And similarly, we store a lot, a lot of information.
These are windows where a lot of information is stored at the unconscious level, which we will use later", Marius Zamfir further clarified.
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