[6][7][8] 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.

[10][11][12] Bernstein said that his family refused to let him try selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors because they believed Prozac led to his brother's death.

[12][13][14] Bernstein was a professional World of Warcraft player, best-known for his innovative play-style of the "rogue" class,[15] and a pioneer in video game live streaming on Twitch.

[24] In May 2018, Bernstein began releasing a podcast called Tea Time with Byron, which featured long-form interviews with notable guests in the gaming and streaming communities such as Pokimane and Hikaru Nakamura.

[27] In August 2020, Blizzard and World of Warcraft paid tribute to Bernstein with an in-game trainer, named after his online alias Reckful.

The character is placed inside the Cathedral of Light, an in-game landmark where the community gathered to pay Bernstein a tribute following the news of his death.