Reckful

Byron Daniel Bernstein (May 8, 1989 – July 2, 2020), better known as Reckful, was an American-Israeli Twitch streamer and professional esports player. He was best known in the gaming community for his achievements in World of Warcraft and Asheron's Call.

Personal life

Byron Daniel Bernstein was born into a Jewish family to Itamar and Judith Bernstein in Los Angeles. He had two older brothers named Guy and Gary; Guy, the oldest, died by suicide when Bernstein was six. Bernstein said he was a "nerdy kid that no-one liked" in elementary school and was made fun of for his difficulty speaking English, which was his second language (his first was Hebrew). Bernstein said he was a gifted student who was good at math, but being made fun of discouraged him from participating in school. When he got into high school, he made friends at school but said his life revolved around playing the video game Asheron's Call, which fell out of popularity while World of Warcraft was gaining popularity, and he fell into bouts of depression and attempted to kill himself at 16. He later dropped out of high school, also due to depression. He said that he recognized that video games were a form of escapism for him.

Bernstein said his brother's death had a profound effect on his life and his subsequent struggles with depression. Bernstein was diagnosed with bipolar II disorder as a child. During a trip to Amsterdam, he tried psilocybin mushrooms, which he said helped him for the first time.

Bernstein died by suicide on July 2, 2020. He was 31 years old.