Hi. My name is Ravi. I am 20 years old. I live in Mumbai with my parents. My father is an employee in a private company and my mother is a homemaker. I am currently doing my diploma in engineering.

When I was younger, I was very fond of gadgets, video games and bikes. The first time I was introduced to internet games was when I was in class 9. I used to go to cyber cafes and play games for 3-4 hours. I used to finish school and head straight to the cyber café or to a friend’s place and play video games till night. When my parents found out, they tried to stop me, but I wouldn’t listen to them. I passed my class 10 exams with some difficulty. But after my board exams got over, I started playing games even more-for about 7-8 hours everyday. I also loved phones and bikes and would force my parents to buy me new ones very often. It came to a point where I started stealing money from my father for games and mobile phones. I used to feel very guilty about all this, but was unable to stop myself from doing it. I started smoking to deal with my guilt. I had no friends, my parents were really tired of my behaviour and finally, I failed my class 12 exams.

At that point I decided enough was enough. I told my father about all my problems and begged him to help me get out of such destructive behavior. My parents took me to a psychiatrist. The doctor asked me about all my problems and heard everything very patiently. He told me that I could get out of all these problems if I was motivated enough to follow all his instructions. I told him I felt very low. He said that I was addicted to internet games and also had depression because of it. He gave me some medicines but also said I would have to regularly meet a psychologist. I agreed to do whatever I was asked to. I started meeting the psychologist who helped me understand my problem and why it happened. She also made me a schedule of activities that I would have to follow everyday to keep myself occupied. It seemed easy, but when I started doing it, I did miss playing video games. A few times I even played, but the doctor and the psychologist helped me come back on track.

I started feeling better within 1-2 months and kept following what I was told. Today it has been 2 years since I have stopped playing internet games completely. I enjoy playing actual games with real friends. I have also managed to get back to my studies and my parents are relieved. I would like to tell anyone who is reading this that anything is possible in life. If one is willing to work hard, and with the correct help, everything is possible. If you are suffering, please talk about it with someone you trust and get help.