From a psychological point of view, role-playing games can be the most dangerous for children and teenagers. A child playing such a game becomes part of the process on the screen. The player plays the role of a specific or imaginary computer character. According to a number of foreign and Russian psychologists, it is role-playing games that are more capable than all other computer game programs of forming a stable psychological dependence in adolescents. In the case of such games, one can observe ego disintegration into “I am virtual” and “I am real”, the increase between which leads to increased maladjustment and disturbances in the sphere of mental states. Virtual reality, which forms the virtual “world” of a computer game, is perceived by the player as real , the real world, the effect of “presence” appears. Teenage computer addiction is further strengthened by global networks, where the teenager no longer plays with the computer, but with millions of living people whom he does not identify behind printed texts. Here the “player” comes up with his own character, i.e. himself, passing off his imagined self to thousands of interlocutors as his real self. There are no strict rules and laws here, there are only unwritten norms of behavior, non-compliance with which does not entail liability. “The player” no longer acts according to the laws described by programmers and designers, but according to the rules invented by him. Awareness of the infinity of the network space, impunity and the huge number of participants in the process constantly pushes a child, a teenager and even an already formed person to create and describe their own rules of behavior, to make decisions that are generally not related to real life. When asking: what is considered a subject of psychological dependence - computer games and the network or virtual reality itself - we can actually answer unequivocally: virtual reality. A computer addict is drawn to the world that he creates or participates in. He is alone and can introduce himself as anyone, no one (if desired) will recognize him. If difficulties or problems arise, he can always turn off the computer and abstract himself from the world in which he was just in, which is impossible in the real world. Virtual reality is a fairy tale, it is the absence of obligations and problems, it is a world in which everyone can be who they want, but who they cannot be in the real world. Why is the world of the Internet so attractive to a teenager? What are the benefits and dangers of entering this new area, which could become the cornerstone of the new millennium that they will enter as adults? They are simply looking for new friends and new subcultures, trying to gain a sense of belonging to one group or another. In the process of searching for a like-minded personality, young people enter into a variety of relationships, they get the opportunity to communicate with an almost limitless number of people and interest groups, with all kinds of personalities, learn many stories, have the opportunity to exchange opinions and discuss issues that interest them. Finding your own circle communication runs parallel to the trend of separation from parents. Teenagers want to be independent and do their own thing. The Internet is particularly attractive in this regard: it satisfies leadership needs and stimulates entrepreneurship. It is known that adolescence is a time of stress. A teenager experiences stress everywhere: at school, in the family, with friends. What to do with this feeling of dissatisfaction, especially when it is associated with sexuality and aggression? A teenager needs to give vent to his emotions. The anonymous world of cyberspace is perfect for this. The phenomenon of Internet addiction has been studied in foreign psychology since 1994. Internet addiction is defined as “an obsessive (compulsive) desire to access the Internet while off-line, and the inability to exit the Internet while on-line.” Researchers provide various criteria for Internet addiction. Obsessive desirecheck e-mail Constantly waiting for the next time to access the Internet Complaints from others that the person spends too much time on the Internet Complaints from others that the person spends too much money on the Internet Two or more of the following symptoms (develop over a period of time from a few days to a month) : psychomotor agitation; anxiety; obsessive thoughts about what is happening on the Internet now; fantasies or dreams about the Internet The Internet is often used for more time or more often than intended. There is a constant desire or unsuccessful attempts to stop or control Internet use. A huge amount of time is spent on activities related to the use of the Internet (buying books about the Internet, searching for new browsers, searching for providers, organizing files found on the Internet). Significant social, professional activities, and recreation are stopped or limited due to the use of the Internet. Children and adolescents who have unstable and conflict-ridden family or school relationships and are not committed to any serious hobbies become more dependent. It is they who find an outlet in the virtual world and consider their stay on the Internet or success in a computer game sufficient for self-affirmation and improvement of their mental state. Participation in the virtual world allows children and adolescents to relax and abstract themselves from psychological problems in the real world, but this only happens in moment of being in virtual space. For them, the real world is uninteresting and full of dangers, since most addicts are people who do not adapt well to society. As a result of this, a person tries to live in another world - a virtual one, where everything is possible, everything is permitted, where he himself sets the rules of the game. It is logical to assume that leaving virtual reality is painful: a person is again faced with a reality that he hates, which causes a decrease in mood and activity, and a feeling of poor health. At the moment, there are no specific recommendations for resolving the mental problems of people (in particular, children and teenagers) in the field of computer addiction. Humanity does not yet have sufficient experience in solving this problem, and all currently existing methods of treating computer addiction are more related to the treatment of addiction to drugs, alcohol or smoking. Do not forget that the computer, the Internet and everything connected with it – this is not only a morbid hobby, but also something that fascinates almost every teenager. Why? What is of great importance here is that in this virtual world the teenager is his own master, there he does not depend on anyone, he manages what he has, he evaluates his mistakes and mistakes himself, and he can correct them himself - there he does what really interests him. So if you understand which games attract him the most, and why these and not others, you can get very valuable information about his true interests and abilities. Many computer games have an educational component and develop really important skills that can be useful to your teenager in the future. Such, for example, as speed of attention, the ability to navigate in difficult situations, the ability to plan one’s actions, the ability to achieve a goal and... the ability to lose. The exception is the so-called stimulating games - “shooting games” and “racing games”. If your teenager is mainly interested in them, and there is no diversity in his tastes, then he has simply found a way to relieve stress and relax. In this case, perhaps he lacks movement, physical activity, and you can think about some kind of sport or hiking trip, where he can try to accomplish the same feats, but in reality, and not in the virtual world. Often teenagers sit for computer due to communication “over the network”. Such communication is attractive to them because it is safe - no one sees you,.