I know people my age are typically addicted to drugs, alcohol or sex, but I'm not exactly the "typical" teenager now am I? Video games have been a huge part of my life since I could first hold a controller in my hands. Although I know it sounds incredibly ridiculous to sit here and say I was addicted to video games, but it's true.

I was just a young lad when I started playing games like Spyro, Jak and Daxter, Sly Cooper, etc. Whoa, I'm getting nostalgic just thinking back to these games. I was an only child with only a few friends who eventually moved away, so I only had video games to keep me company. I began to play them all day and all night. Whole days would pass by and I wouldn't even notice. If I didn't have the newest games I would get freaked out and throw a tantrum.

When I was going through elementary school, I remember going home and immediately turning on my game console playing whatever game intrigued me. In fact, I would skip school and pretend to be sick in order to play more video games. This continued into middle school, which caused me to be in danger of failing my first semester. I grew the nasty habit of hiding and lying about my grades saying, "The school never gave us report cards," while just wanting to play video games. My dad defended me, believing that I would never lie about something like that. In that moment, I got everything taken away from me and earned straight A's. But of course, I immediately went back and my grades dropped, slightly.

I have always used video games as a way out and as an escape from the world around me even to this day. And I hide in my room away from my family and they think I'm a hermit. If you don't think addictions to video games are real, well, I almost failed every grade and I never really ever properly socialized with people. So from personal experience, I can tell you, yes, it is real.