Night Games, Empty Mornings – what this story teaches, the signs and what to do
From the book – Chapter 25: Addiction and Substance Use
Night Games, Empty Mornings
Karan, fifteen, from Jaipur, once loved cricket and drawing. Over a year, an online game took over. He played until three in the morning, hid the phone under the blanket, and became furious when his mother asked him to stop.
His marks fell. He stopped seeing friends and skipped breakfast. When his father switched off the wifi, Karan shouted, kicked a door, then sat on the floor shaking and tearful. He said later that the game was the only place he felt good at anything.
What this story explains
This story shows that a behaviour loop such as gaming or phone use can share the cue, relief, shame pattern with substances, and that the underlying anxiety needs care too.
How to recognise it
-
More time online than planned, with failed attempts to cut down.
-
Losing interest in earlier hobbies, friends and sleep.
-
Strong irritability or distress when access is removed.
-
Falling marks and missed responsibilities.
-
Hiding use and playing to escape low mood.
What to do
-
Talk about it calmly before you remove anything, and ask what the game gives him.
-
Agree clear screen rules together, such as devices out of the bedroom at night.
-
Rebuild offline joys: sport, art, friends, family meals.
-
Keep sleep regular and protect it first.
-
Look underneath for bullying, anxiety or low mood and get help for it.
-
Stay consistent as parents, and model your own phone habits.
Do and don’t
| Do | Don’t |
|---|---|
| Show interest in what he plays. | Do not smash devices in anger. |
| Make rules together. | Do not shame or mock. |
| Praise offline efforts. | Do not cut everything off overnight without a plan. |
| Keep consequences predictable. | Do not ignore sadness or isolation. |
| Protect sleep. | Do not leave parents divided on rules. |
Read the full chapter – Chapter 25: Addiction and Substance Use
Stories from real life
- The Glass After Dinner – Raghav, fifty-one, runs a hardware shop in Nashik. He never drank in the mornings, he told himself, and he never missed a delivery. But the one…
- The Cigarette Behind the Hostel – Aisha, nineteen, started vaping at a friend's party in her first year of college in Pune. It looked harmless and tasted of mango. Within months she…
- Pills for Sleep, Pills for Nerves – Mrs Dorothy Pereira, sixty-eight, widowed in Goa, was given a sleeping tablet after her husband died. It helped at first. Over two years she kept asking…
- The Brother Nobody Mentions – Tomas, twenty-six, lived in Lisbon with his parents and his younger sister Inês. His older brother Rui used heroin, and the family had spent years in…
More on this topic: Addiction to alcohol, tobacco, drugs and gambling – signs and recovery
More questions
- Pills for Sleep, Pills for Nerves – what this story teaches, the signs and what to do
- The Brother Nobody Mentions – what this story teaches, the signs and what to do
- What can we learn from the story “Rafi, The Third Excuse”?
- What addiction is?
- Understanding common substances – addiction
- Why the body learns the loop?
- How is addiction treated?
- Understanding family — support without enabling – addiction
- Understanding harm reduction – addiction
- What is true: the loop named is best captured as…?