I've said it elsewhere, but for me I played a lot of games when I was younger because I was bullied and didn't really have many friends. That changed later in

I've said it elsewhere, but for me I played a lot of games when I was younger because I was bullied and didn't really have many friends. That changed later in life, but by then gaming wasn't just an escape - it was part of me, and my lifestyle - I play less, but still enjoy the odd marathon. That said, I think there is an element of truth to gaming obsession. MMO's had a heavy social element, and your perceived 'status' sometimes was linked in people's minds as your rank or your gear. This gear or rank often required heavy grinding for that perceived social benefit which made it a race to the bottom in the sense that fun had nothing to do with it anymore, it was competitiveness and/or obsession as well as maintenance of your status. Nowadays the discussion (rightfully) is more around loot boxes, but that's a separate condition in my mind to the reward mechanism you get from ranks or loot. I do also think it is important to distinguish addictiveness that comes from grinding and competitive gaming, to the escapism that drives others to play games for hours at a time. You can get so focused on competitiveness that it can eat into your life, making it imbalanced. The reason for that is totally different to someone who is trying to escape a bad social life/family/whatever. There are plenty of completely healthy kids/adults who play way too much games because of the addictive nature of the games and not for any underlying reason, and that can be an issue in its own way, but that needs to be limited by parenting, and/or being raised in a way that allows someone to make good decisions.