Low Point

The first time I played a computer game as a young child was a captivating experience. I was at my cousin’s house and he had a NES with Super Mario Bros. Making a little pixelated Mario boing up and down on a CRT screen is perhaps laughable compared to what’s available on the market for kids these days, but back then it was cutting-edge, and that feeling of control was seductive. After being called away from the machine, I wanted more.

As I grew older, I played more games. I got my own NES, a GameBoy, a C64 and later got into PC gaming. I never had much trouble balancing school studies and gaming until I went to University. That was when I started to get into MMORPGs, and one in particular called WoW. That was a negative turning point, and slowly but surely, I cared less about my studies and more about gaming.

At my worst I once played WoW for 3 days straight, only taking a break from the monitor in order to eat or use the bathroom. I didn’t sleep. I ignored phone calls. I don’t remember going outside. Near the end of the third day, after eating a quick dinner, I went to sit down at my computer once more. I took one look at the screen and suddenly felt sickened. My body was shaking. I felt a cold sweat flash on, and a piercing pain struck behind my eyes like a migraine. Those symptoms came about within seconds of looking at that computer screen. I turned everything off immediately and went to bed, more than a little concerned, but soon taken away by sleep.