Bilal: the first-year who games until four

The case (fictional)

Bilal is 19 and comes from a small town in south Punjab. He is in the first year of a computer science degree in Islamabad and lives in a university hostel. He is the first in his family to go to university; his father runs a grocery shop and took out a loan to pay the fees.

He comes to the student counselling centre after failing two mid-term exams. He says the lectures are fast and in English, and he is too ashamed to ask questions because classmates from big-city schools seem so confident. He has started playing online games until four in the morning and sleeps through his morning classes. Games are the only time he "feels good at something"; he is highly ranked. He eats irregularly and has lost touch with the one school friend who also moved to Islamabad.

He phones home every day and tells his parents that everything is fine. He feels like a fraud and has thought about dropping out, but cannot face his father. He denies thoughts of harming himself but says he feels "trapped".

At school he was top of his class and liked teaching maths to his younger cousins. His roommate is friendly and has invited him to the hostel cricket team.