Twitch streamer Reckful reduced to tears while talking to psychiatrist
Twitch veteran Byron ‘Reckful’ Bernstein broke down when discussing his battle with depression during a livestream with Harvard psychiatrist Dr. Kanojia.
Former World of Warcraft professional Reckful has a list of accolades to his name. After taking top honours at MLG Washington in 2010, he naturally transitioned to Hearthstone – which builds on the existing lore from WoW’s universe – and took a second-place finish at Blizzcon’s 2013 Invitational.
Although the American has quite a decorated past in esports, his personal life has experienced its turbulence. Having been quite transparent with his battle with depression on Twitter, Reckful always tries to provide upbeat content to his audience.
Reckful streams a variety of content to his channel.Since his transition into becoming a variety streamer, Bernstein’s channel is projected to finally break the 1 million follower mark in 2020. Given his rocky road with depression, Reckful turned to Harvard psychiatrist and Twitch streamer, Dr. Kanojia.
The 30-year-old was toing and froing with Kanojia, but eventually broke down when asked: “Who’s the focus on? Who are you thinking about?”
After a short pause, Reckful dissolved to tears and responded: “Just the people who have experienced what I did.” Seeing the former WoW pros distressed, the doctor intervened.
“So I’ll tell you, Reckful – listen carefully now. You’re trying to cure the depression that is growing within kids out there today,” the psychiatrist stated. “You’re trying to protect them from what happened to you.”
According to Kanojia, Reckful’s entertainment is a bid to provide a medium for those experiencing feelings of melancholy in a similar capacity to himself.
Bernstein then implied that what he does feels “good” and “meaningful,” to which the Havard doc replied: “Good is the understatement of the f**king year. It is vital!” Reckful was thankful for the psychiatrist’s efforts and later Tweeted to express his gratitude.
learned a lot today, therapeutic stream. thanks dr. kanojia
— Reckful (@Byron) December 2, 2019
Having previously been open with what depression feels like to him, the former WoW pro delved deeper into the roots of his depression, in front of a live audience on Twitch.
Although Reckful took something away from the experience, this also underscores his brave venture towards helping those maybe in a similar position to himself.