The Gamer and the Psychiatrist
The New York Times
Did Dr. Alok Kanojia's livestreamed conversations with a troubled video game champion cross an ethical line?
A few minutes into his first livestreamed conversation with Byron Bernstein, Dr. Alok Kanojia got his caveats out of the way. This was not a therapy session; this was just conversation. Colleagues had warned him, he explained, that blurring the line could get him sued.
“I’m a psychiatrist,” he said, “but I can’t treat your depression over the internet.”
“Yeah, gotcha,” Mr. Bernstein said.
Dr. Kanojia’s fleece jacket bore the logo of Harvard Medical School, where he had done his medical residency. But he had also been a gamer who had followed Mr. Bernstein’s record-shattering career. He beamed at the younger man with undisguised admiration.
“So tell me,” he said, clasping his hands together. “What are talking about today, buddy?”
Mr. Bernstein, known in the gaming world as Reckful, tweaked the volume on his Twitch feed — thousands of viewers were waiting — and the two men plunged in.
