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by allcentury
3100 days ago
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I think I would have met the qualifications for this as a 14 year old. My parents were going through a bad divorce and I spent all my time playing StarCraft to cope. I had all the signs of addiction, I stopped hanging out with friends, I stayed awake all night, ate poorly and gave up in school. More than once I recognized my issue and smashed the CD, even one time glued it to a piece of paper and put it on our bulletin board for my mom to see. Two weeks later I'd be back playing at 3am. I needed help but I don't think my parents knew what to do. |
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Stereotypes aside, a lot of Korean teenagers (for me, counter-strike and an early 2000 korean MMO called N-age ㅋㅋㅋ) went through this cycle. It was a form of escape, especially as a kid dealing with a stressful environment, I can see why some of us form a special bond with video games.
Another contributing factor is if in that environment, the prospect of earning six digit salary as a pro gamer is very real with poor job prospects in a hyper competitive society. The industry is rife with health issues that is conveniently ignored and unfortunately "mental disorders" are still viewed with the stigma one would attach to institutionalized patients, although its improving thanks to organizations like WHO setting a standard.