Sherry Myrow, 30, is the creator of the website Gamerwidow.com. Its creation stems from Sherry’s own experience.  Her husband played the online role-playing game World of Warcraft and it soon took over his life. He was playing up to eighteen hours a day.

"I only saw happiness in his eyes if he was playing the game or talking about the game," Sherry says.

She felt alone, neglected, and angry and searched online to see if anyone else was experiencing what she was going through. She was surprised to see there were many posts by men and women expressing their desperation at having a partner who was addicted to an online game. One woman in one of the posts described herself as a gamer widow:

"I saw that phrase, I was just like oh my goodness, that’s me, that’s how I feel.  I feel like he’s dead. I feel like I’m alone and I have nobody to turn to."

In 2005, Sherry designed Gamerwidow.com, a forum where people can share their frustrations and discuss their feelings about having a partner who is addicted to Massively Multiplayer Online Role Play Games (MMORPG), role-playing games, and action games including Second Life, World of Warcraft, EverQuest, and others.

Some of the postings are brutally honest, and heartbreaking.

"He discovered Second Life earlier this year. I don't know this person, who is sharing my bed.

"We have been together more than 10 years…We hardly ever argued, agreed on everything....life was great. Now......there is no life.

"…after getting into S[econd Life]…he suddenly needed a room to himself..."more privacy"…By that time, we had already had a number of ugly arguments.

"His "friends" in S[econd Life] are exclusively women…In the beginning, he played around he clock, took time off work, stopped eating and drinking and caring about anything. I truly believe he lost touch with reality."

Sherry says that some people who contact her forum have been married 18-20 years and are desperate because they are losing their partner to a virtual affair they started in one of these role-playing games.

"They fall in love with a personality online," she says. "They have a common interest. You can get to know and share secrets."
 
Gamerwidow.com has approx 4,000 members from all over the world. Sherry’s husband stopped playing World of Warcraft when their first child was born four years ago.

Gamerwidow

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