FORTNITE ADDICTION GRIPPING PARENTS TOO I took drugs to play 10hrs a night, my family fell apart.. even my 6-year-old became obsessed with the game
AN addiction to the Fortnite game led to spiralling drug abuse for a man who was brought to the verge of losing his job, family and home.
Dad-of-two Lee Harmer told of his shame at how he took cocaine to keep buzzing as he played through the night.
By day he muddled through his work and was given frequent warnings.
Aged 23, he would even rush home at lunchtime to squeeze in extra game time.
And he became so hooked he was hardly troubled when his wife Sarah moved out with their children.
Only when his six-year-old girl got hooked too did reality give him a jolt.
Lee said: “Not until I saw my own child obsessed with playing and watching others play did I realised I had to do something about my addiction.
“It made me an absent parent and set a dangerous example to a child far more vulnerable than I was.
“I have to say Fortnite was completely addictive. I’d lose track of time in a way I never had before.
“I’d go to bed at 11pm, then creep down and play for two or three more hours. To wake me up, I started having a line of cocaine. I’d climb back into bed at 5am, wired, then pretend to sleep before crawling through the next day.
“It’s amazing I didn’t get sacked at work. I was almost unable to function.
Crisis
“Finally Sarah said she’d had enough and took the kids to her mum’s – leaving me to hammer at the game, playing ten or more hours a night.”
Last week we revealed how a girl of nine is having intensive therapy after becoming so addicted to Fortnite she played through the night and would wet herself rather than take a loo break.
Many parents have spoken out on how their kids have become withdrawn, aggressive, depressed and struggled at school after playing for hours on end.
Addiction therapist Steve Pope said last night: “This is a billion-pound industry but the cost to families wrapped up in gaming addiction is gravely high.
“We are coming close to a national crisis. As parents, it is our job not only to protect our children but to set an example. But if a parent is in the grip of an addiction it becomes almost impossible to shield their children and it becomes very destructive.
“This game is designed to encourage obsessive behaviour, which is something that can tear a family unit apart.
“Some people who can play these games without becoming addicted if they place strict time limits on playing time and frequency. But the nature of the game can make this difficult.”
Fortnite, a free shoot-and-survive game in which people compete in a battle royale and can buy extra features like weapons and outfits, is a huge hit.
It made £200million from in-app purchases in April, making its average revenue almost £94million a month since it launched last year.
Owner Epic Games stands to make £1.2billion in its first year of release.
But the downside is stark. One study shows the average family who play it has 11 rows a month about the game. Lee, an assistant retail manager from Blackpool, started playing Fortnite last December. He said: “I’ve always enjoyed gaming, playing Fifa and Call of Duty since I was around 17, and have never had problems controlling how much I played. “Just before Christmas last year some guys at work started talking about Fortnite. It was free, they said it was amazing, so I figured I’d give it a go. “In the evenings I’d play for a couple of hours after helping Sarah put our eightmonth-old daughter to bed. “Sarah would tell me she was going to bed and I couldn’t believe it was 11pm already. She would read stories to our six-yearold Mia in bed as I always had to finish my game. Soon it basically became Sarah’s job, which was sad because I loved reading with my daughter.”
Lee ignored the warning signs of addiction and was star-struck as celebrities and sports stars endorsed and played the game. He said: “I’m a massive Man Utd fan and remember seeing Jesse Lingard in the same game as me, which was a massive buzz.
“Everyone I knew at work, all my old mates from school and college, everyone seemed to be playing. It was all anyone ever seemed to talk about. I’d count down the minutes at work until 5.30pm, when I could rush home to play, almost pushing past Sarah to get to the Xbox.”
By February, worried Sarah told Lee he had to stop playing and get to bed – or risk losing his job as the family’s sole earner. But he ignored her. Lee LAST week, we told the shocking story of a nine-year old who was so addicted to the game she went into rehab, sparking a national conversation about gaming addiction in children.
The first patient to be diagnosed and treated by the NHS for gaming addiction was revealed in the Daily Mirror, right.
The Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail joined the debate but Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Matthew Hancock declined to be drawn on how to tackle the crisis.