He neither showers nor cuts his nails!

After losing their home in the earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaraş and living in the district of Defne, 50-year-old mother Semra Özbay and her 23-year-old son Barış Özbay continue their lives clinging together after the earthquake.

The family, who lost both their home and relatives in the earthquake, has been struggling through a difficult process for three years. Since the earthquake, Barış Özbay, who lost his zest for life and dropped out of university to continuously play with computers and mobile phones, has become addicted to the virtual world.

The young man, fulfilling only the bare necessities of life, neither showers nor attends to personal care needs like cutting his nails. Having not stepped outside for nearly 3 years, Barış's mother, Semra Özbay, suffers every day for her son. Unable to even turn his neck away from playing with his phone and computer, Barış's grief-stricken mother seeks support for him to reengage with life. Barış Özbay, stating that he does not leave the house all day and only wants to do what is necessary to live, mentioned he doesn't want to undergo treatment to overcome this phase.

He said, "I generally wake up, go to the bathroom, and eat food because I have to, otherwise I wouldn't do those things. Then I sit down and play with the phone. I watch the walls and wait for the evening to come, then I go to sleep. I locked myself in the house 2 months before the earthquake. Even before that, I was slowly becoming disgusted with life. I was studying logistics at university. I don't want to do anything, so I also don't want to take a bath. I have no dreams. I don't want anything to happen.

They try hard, but I don't want to improve or receive help. I don't want to go outside and do anything. I will sit at home. My nails were even longer, but they forcibly cut them. In short, life is not perfect. People say life is beautifully unpredictable, but to me, it's the opposite. The ups and downs of life are not beautiful and I don't want them."

Semra Özbay, stating that her son hasn't showered for 3 years and hasn't left the house, said, "My son was fine before the earthquake but changed a lot afterward. He locked himself in and says he wants to die. I tell him to take a shower, he says 'I will die.' Sometimes he says, 'either you die or I die. There's no other escape.' He does not talk to me like before and does not call me mom.

I struggle with this situation. I look at his old pictures to return to my son's old memories, and this is how I console myself. My husband is dead for me; I have no other children."