I was just going through the net today looking at video game raids *WOW and Everquest in particular* and I started looking at the wickepedia forum of everquest. I read down a bit until I came across a young man around my age named Shawn Woolley. It startled me too see such a young person die so sporadaclly in a manor of an obsession over a game. So I started to do more research on the subject about game addiction, and the physical/psychological damage it can have on a person and knew at that point I suffered the same problem. Today I still have the same problem and I hardley play video games anymore, but I still suffer the after effects of when I was a hardcore gamer. Im going to tell you my story of what happened to me.
I grew up as a kid who only depended on himself and only on himself because I was an only child. I had a great social life everyone liked me, I was big into sports and fitness and I had a ton going for me. I always loved to be outside and always wanted to hang out with my friends, and play some Diablo 2 on the side. on Sept of 2001 my friend told me about this game called *Everquest* and how awsome it was etc. So the kind of go get ur kind of kid I was I had to have it. worst part about it I became obsessed with a game before I even started playing it. about a year later I started playing it for the first time and was hooked before I knew it, but the hardware in my comp couldnt handle the graphics of the game so I was forced to quite. The more I thought about the game the more obsessed I became. I couldn't stop talking about this game, like i was a drug addict looking for my fix. Kind of a bit repulsive for someone to get addicted too a game with in 10 mins of playing it I know, But I just lived my life a little bit more thinking about the game once in awhile. Having the funnest days of my life. 2 years later I bought a better computer, and of course downloaded everquest. I started playing the game intrigued by its marvels. Soon to find out it was probably the biggest mistakes of my life. Everquest pulled my into another reality, hours and hours of game play. there were days that I didnt fall asleep for two days while playing this game. I started to isolate myself from the rest of the world. telling off my friends and family. I socially crippled myself in real life. I missed a lot of school dances, missed a lot of chances to go hang out with friends or date girls because I didnt have the time. The game was all I thought about 24/7 heck there would be nights that I would go to sleep and I would dream my character is dieing and Id suddenly wake up and run to the computer to stop it. I found relationships, and friends on the game. though I wasnt a huge raid kind of player but I did take Everquest seriously. Two years passed before my eyes, when I suddenly started to notice a decrease in all the players in everquest. most people left everquest to go to everquest 2 and world of warcraft. So as all the players started to leave, everquest started to become really boring, So I decided to quit and move on with my life. first day off I figured I would just start fresh. I come to figure out that was not an easy task. I started to notice that for the past 2 years I isolated myself from everyone and became quite and pretty much an outcast. my life wasn't exactley very fun after that, and became depressed all the time. during the two years I forgot how to interact in real life and lost my friends. I didnt blame video games at that time because of it, I just figured my life will come back together sooner or later. Sadley it was lost in those two years, and I relized it 6-8 months ago. I still to this day have mild depression and am still very much isolated from everything. all because of a stupid game, and stupid me for letting myself be manipulated my a machine. Presently I now play world of warcraft, but it does have the affect of what everquest did, but I dont fear for my life about world of warcraft like I did for everquest. Everquest consumed me thats a givin and I still suffer it with bad habits that made me overweight and the fact that I isolate myself from the world and don't let anyone in.
My prayers are with all that had and have a problem, and know that there is always someone else who has a problem and there is help.
~Aaron~