Aaron is 16 years old and has suffered from crippling anxiety and panic attacks for many years.

He became afraid of leaving the house and struggled to cope with the demands of school life. He found it hard to make friends and maintain relationships so he spent much of his time on his own.

He used gaming as an escape tool, a place to fit in and become someone that could engage with the outside world from the safety of his bedroom.

Aaron’s mentor encouraged him to get out and about beyond his online world

MAPS provided Aaron with a mentor, someone to do something with – with no pressure, someone to talk to and encourage him. As the year went on Aaron became more confident, he was able to go out and about in his local area and began accessing group activities, he started to be able to bring the “online confidence” into his regular everyday situations.

He’s like a different person!

The mentor commented that even his physical appearance had changed, rather than hanging his head, avoiding eye contact he can now sit up straight and is able to talk to someone looking them in the eye, something that a few short months ago would have caused him extreme panic.

Mentoring helped bring the self-esteem that Aaron found only in gaming into other areas of his life.

Find out more about MAPS.