FROM MARIJUANA TO INTERNET AND VIDEO GAMING ADICTION- A CASE REPO

Abstract

Marijuana is the most widely used psychoactive substance after coffee and it is used for both medical and recreational purposes. It has been known since ancient times and it seems to have been part of the mixture that was put in the pipe of “peace” by Native Americans. Marijuana is psychically addictive, but in its case, there is no physical addiction as in the case of high-risk drugs (heroin) and over 70% of consumers do not recognize marijuana addiction. This substance can induce an acute psychotic episode and the onset of schizophrenia. Usually, the patient’s family is the one who asks for help in their case. We chose to present the clinical case of a patient, initially, marijuana addicted, who, after stopping it, developed an internet gaming disorder addiction. The digital environment is constantly evolving, growing exponentially at a considerable rate and online networks mean creating connections between people, minds and memories, regardless of their location in space and time. Many of us have different passions but there are also people who take these passions to the extreme as is the case with our patient who has developed an addiction to video games. Thus, we can conclude that one addiction can be replaced by another one in a very short time.