ADD brains are addicted to Stimulants, its the brains heroin
My biggest dealer is Video games
I spend a lot of time on them and enjoy them because when I play them with friends at school, I like the strategy and thought that goes behind it
Its not that we dont care about boring things, we know we need to learn time tables, but what might seem as boring and mundane for normal people is impossible for an ADDer
This disorder is a disability, just like being unable to walk
Its easy to say to an ADDer “Why dont you just grow up?” or “So what you have ADD, its just an excuse to get by through life being lazy! If you try Harder you can overcome it!”
Would you tell a man in a wheelchair “Your just being lazy! If you tried hard enough you would be able to get up and walk!”

Howdy, my name is Ethan, i live in south dakota, now im 20 years old, here there is not very much to do, i want to say about 8 years ago my aunt who had breast cancer brought me to a store and said pick out a game, so i looked and picked out a game called DIABLO 2, and the DIABLO 2: LORD OF DESTRUCTION game, its an online computer game extremely close to WARCRAFT. I played this game constantly, everyday all day, for 2 years, i gained over 170LBS in those 2 years i weighted about 125 at the beginning of this game, at the end i weighted over 250 lbs being barely 5 foot tall, i never left the computer. I started missing family events, birthdays, holidays, my friends even started talking to me about how i never do anything anymore. sense i gained so much weight i was known as the fat kid in school. Alot of people got mean about that, i was always being called names, i hated it. When i was on this game, i felt like a god, everyone liked me! i would dream about our world becoming just like this game, i thought “man if i was my character in real life NO ONE would be making fun of me, they would all like me, and my bullys would never make fun of me again. This game made me feel like i was part of this world, this is my ticket right here, who needs a job i though all the time, my dad’s got money he’ll just pay for what i need! For my mom and dad everyday was a constant struggle for them dealing with me and this game, there would be days my mom would be screaming cryin, yelling at me to just get off, i wouldn’t, skipped school, never did home work, i would get ISS in school i’d just walk out and go home and get on my game. When i skipped school (called in for sick days) my mom would let me then sometimes unexpectly she would come home i would run up stairs and into my room before she got into the house. She would go down stairs to feel the seat of the computer just to see if i was playing it. My aunt pat who bought me this game pasted away in 2004 decemeber 22 at 5:18 p.m. with her very long fight with cancer(R.I.P. Pat). On thanksgiving (a month before hand) my parents and relatives really wanted me to go with them to eat (2 hours away from were my computer was), my mom said “Ethan this is probably Pats last holiday” i just kept thinking there is no way, whatever! My parents and I battled it out (veruably) tell me to go i refused, about one month later she pasted away… I never really did get to say good bye to the best aunt i have ever had in my life, she did everything for me. This game at age 11-14 ruined 3 years of my life that i will never get back, i never will get to really say good bye to pat (I MISS YOU SO MUCH). i was a very troubled kid growing up, i got put into a placement which i agreed on call “Girls and Boys town, Nebraska” When i got out i weight 250lbs, but i was a goot taller (i look ALOT differen’t). I had 2 quit very very hard but i new my life was falling apart. I stayed there for 2 years(at age 17 i got out) fastforward to the 2008 beginning of summer, i found my game in a box once again i started playing. The summer didn’t end up to bad but by christmas it was already to late i was hooked again expremely i started paying for items on this game, one day i spend over $200 bucks and still was not as satisfyed as i wanted to be. I wanted to be the best, i was determind.
The beginning of 2009 i weighted over 340lbs. I quite, on july 4 2009, i found i was going to be a dad, i knew right then and there, im not going to be to fat to even hold my little girl. sense then until now i have weight around 270. Still working to lose the weight i had for many years, building the relationships back with friends and family, being a dad, and being a good son. For some people like me this game is almost a nightmare, i THINK if kids had ADHD as bad as i did when i was those ages, for some it would be the worse mistake you’ve ever made, others can handle it, some can’t…

If you have any questions or would like to talk to me about my story please feel free to email me (mud-devil69@hotmail.com)

I have 3 kids, my son has Aspergers. We recently bought Rock Band, and it has brought my kids an interest in music (my son loves the drumming, whereas the girls love the guitar).

They are allowed to game for fairly short periods and when chores are done. Games for them have resulted in improved hand-eye coordination and a love of music – so much so that my son is now learning ‘real’ drums and my daughters are learning guitar and keyboard.

The media are too quick to jump on videogames – when managed correctly they have have a positive influence.