9-Year-Old Wets Herself Playing ‘Fortnite,’ Enters Rehab for Alarming Signs of Addiction

Video games, like many other forms of entertainment, can result in an unhealthy obsession or addiction. In a particularly severe case involving a U.K. girl only 9 years of age, the result is rehabilitation. Apparently, the unnamed young child once hit her father in the face for confiscating her Xbox One due to her behavior. This was reportedly before she chose to wet herself instead of going to the bathroom.

Speaking to Mirror.co.uk, the parents of the child revealed that her addiction started when they got her an Xbox One in January. Shortly after that, it would seem that she downloaded the game “Fortnite,” which is an incredibly popular game right now. It would appear that it didn’t take long for signs of problems to show according to the little girl’s mother, Carol, 36.

“We got called in by her head ­teacher asking if ­everything was OK. She had fallen asleep twice in lessons and her grades were slipping,” Carol said.

“When we asked our daughter what the ­problem was, she became unusually ­argumentative and aggressive, which we just put down to her hormones.”

The situation only escalated from there. Although usually active, the little girl had apparently lost interest in physical activities. The parents also started noticing regular charges on their credit card, which totaled up to £50 ($67) a month.

Deciding to take drastic measure, the parents tried to take the game away from the girl. This apparently made her so furious that she hit her father in the face.

Eventually, things got to a point where the child was found sitting on a cushion soaked in urine. She had wet herself because she didn’t want to go to the bathroom in the middle of the game.

“I found her backside was red-raw. She was so hooked to the game she wouldn’t even go to the toilet,” Carol explained.

In an effort to cure her of this addiction, they finally decided on rehabilitation. She might not be the last case of this kind, either.

As Metro notes, “Fortnite” has counted more than 40 million downloads since it was released. It’s arguably the most popular game in the world, with countless more children potentially getting addicted.