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Turin Pilots Integrated Addiction Department after Teen’s Smartphone Withdrawal

The ASL Città di Torino has launched a multidisciplinary pilot unit to treat digital addiction in response to a high-profile teen’s smartphone withdrawal crisis.

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Overview

  • A teenager in Orbassano was treated at San Luigi hospital with intramuscular and intravenous anxiolytics after exhibiting acute psychomotor agitation from smartphone withdrawal.
  • Psychiatrist Gianluca Rosso warns that compulsive phone use stimulates the same dopaminergic reward circuits as alcohol or drugs.
  • Italian Ministry of Health data indicate over a quarter of adolescents show problematic smartphone use linked to anxiety, sleep loss and social withdrawal.
  • The experimental ASL Città di Torino department unites psychiatry, neuropsychiatry and psychology to offer continuous care from childhood through adulthood.
  • Experts advocate structured cognitive-behavioral therapy and proactive parental guidance to prevent and manage digital addiction.