Recently, the media drew attention to the story of a 30-year-old Japanese man. Gaming addiction created a huge number of problems in his life.
For the man from Nara Prefecture, video games have been an integral part of his life since childhood. At first, these were games on a console given to his older brother. When he was in elementary school, he played for about an hour a day, but in middle school, gaming sessions increased to three or four hours.
Then the hero of the story passed the entrance exam to a school that was an hour away by train — now he played even during his commutes.
His parents had high hopes for him and constantly urged him to "study," but, as the man says: "Even if I studied with all my might, it was impossible to reach the level my parents wanted." He didn't want to admit it and therefore "escaped into the world of video games."
To get away from his parents, he entered a university in eastern Japan, and in the summer of his first year, he got hooked on an online shooter where teams of 6 people fight. His skills improved, and he really liked it when allies said things like "A strong player has joined us."
The man returned from his part-time job around midnight and played until morning, woke up at noon and played again until evening — and so it went on day after day. As a result, he appeared less and less at the university and eventually dropped out in his second year.
Later, he returned to his parents. He didn't want to listen to questions like "what will you do next?", so after about a year, he left again. At 24, he got a job in sales, but the work was hard, so he relieved stress by playing games. During this period, he became engrossed in a "mobile social game where you have to defeat enemies together with other players."
The man began to spend a lot of money on gacha rolls and accumulated many debts. His mental state deteriorated, and after a year and a half, he quit his job. Subsequently, he stopped paying rent, his electricity was cut off, but even after that, he did not stop spending money on games.
His parents eventually placed the hero of the story in a rehabilitation center for people with addictions. He accumulated debts totaling 2 million yen (about a million rubles) and went through personal bankruptcy proceedings.
Now he is undergoing a rehabilitation program and keeping some distance from games:
I used to think: "Without games, I will die." While I was playing, it filled the void in my soul