When Brad was 13, his parents bought him his first video game console. Every weekend he would binge on playing computerized games, day and night.

As a grown man, Brad says his addiction continued. He shares a story about the night before his wedding when at 4:30 a.m., his father knocked on his door, wondering why his son was still awake when he had to be up in less than three hours. Brad, of course, was playing video games.

“I look at the pictures from the wedding and think, what a waste. My life went out of control.” says Brad. 

But the worst was yet to come. Brad says he built up nearly $24,000 in debt, lost his career and had been lying to and deceiving his wife because of his gaming. When it all became too overwhelming, Brad attempted suicide by overdosing on prescription sedatives.

Brad survived the overdose and, at his psychologist’s request, came clean with his wife about his problem. 

Brad’s wife declined to be on camera, but voiced her feelings in a videotaped segment. “Brad became more and more isolated, he didn’t want to go out, and he also kind of isolated me from my friends. The suicide attempt was a big wake-up call,” she shares.

 

Dr. Phil addresses the amount of money spent on video games, including systems, controllers and the actual games. According to Brad, most of his money went towards rebuilding the inside of his computer several times over so he could play newer games, faster.