Depression in the Stream

Gaming has its share of people dying. There's stories of ones that binge so much that they don't eat or drink. It's happened in places like Taiwan for example. But then you have big name personalities. Last week there was a YouTube personality called Reckful who passed away. The result was said to be because of suicide. This is not the first and it won't be the last.

I'm no expert on depression or anything of that matter. With that in mind, this Reckful, whose real name is Byron Bernstein, was only 31. He put out some tweets talking about fans dealing with what he put out. It could be interpreted in different ways. Whatever the case, he was not in a good place. I wouldn't be surprised if the guy suffered from depression. Someone could have had traumatic experiences when they were younger. Maybe there is that sense of feeling neglected. Or something that is painful that the only way out is to end it.

We are all wired differently in our minds. Even if you share same thoughts with others, you may have a different mindset compared to your peers. There might be stuff that can cause depression, especially if one doesn't have drive or can't cope with handling life. Some may say to go to a mental institution. I'm not 100 percent sure that's a good solution. It's not an easy subject matter because nothing is ever done to prevent suicide or help the people that are not right in the head. It's only after someone is gone is there someone wanting better solutions, but that's even rare.

Gaming is a lot more interesting because Bernstein had plenty of followers. Like any form of social media, he got the good and bad sides of them. Maybe a negative comment spurred him to die. We have seen people give up quickly on social media because of vicious comments and some may take some of those comments personally. You would have to hope that people can help figure out what is causing the issue at hand and try to fix it before another death occurs. But considering mental health, I doubt anything will improve.