Nine-Year-Old In Rehab For Binge-Video Gaming

A 9-year-old girl has become so addicted to online gaming that she actually wets herself to prevent having to walk away from the screen.

By DAVID on June 11, 2018
(Photo by Wang He/Getty Images)

Here’s a scary story – a 9-year-old girl is in rehab after binge-playing a popular video game. The game is called “Fortnite,” and it’s a new game that’s become insanely popular. It’s like what “Minecraft” was a few years back. To put it as simply as possible, “Fortnite” is a sort of zombie survival game. You play online with friends, and collect things you need to build a fort to survive battles.

This 9-year-old got a little too enthralled in the game though. She would play for as long as 10 hours straight. She’d skip meals, and would even skip going to the bathroom. How did she last that long without a bathroom break? Well, that’s just it – she didn’t take the bathroom break, she would just go, right where she was sitting. That’s addiction right there. When the girl’s father tried taking the game away, she apparently hit him in the face and threw a fit.

The girl’s mother says “We had no idea, when we let her play the game, of the ­addictive nature or the impact it could have on her mental health… She is in ­therapy for the addiction after she ­became withdrawn, ­agitated and disturbed from playing up to ten hours a day – sometimes playing until dawn, wetting ­herself so she didn’t have to leave the screen.” A counsellor treating the girl says that the game is a “gateway” addiction. He said that it can lead to other addictions later in life, like gambling. See some more info on this girl’s story, and about the game, over here.

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