It still 100% varies from person to person.

It helps, just like any other 'escape' like movies, books, exercise. Something to focus on rather than listening to my never ending thoughts.

It's especially evident when playing Synthriders on master difficulty. That needs your full attention and as soon as my mind starts wandering I break the combo. So it's basically an exercise to stay focused in the present instead of mulling over the past and future. And it feels great to be in the present.

Games help to stay in the now and give a break to everything else vying for attention. Hence I'm all into VR gaming as that's the ultimate way to transport you into the 'now' somewhere else, blocking out other stimuli. I tend to get overstimulated / sensory overload with too much going on around me. VR fixes that, although I still have trouble dealing with NPCs talking over / through each other in games and always play with subtitles enabled.

Games sometimes give me the feeling of happiness - it doesn't happen often and not for long, but still.

Games used to be stressful for me in the past because I was into MMO and MP games a decade or so ago.

Waiting on people, being held back by people, or hindered by people left a sour taste after playing sessions.

Thankfully I quit MMO/MP games 10 years ago and only play SP/non-online games.

After daily grinding from life, playing a game, even for an hour a day is soothing to the soul and mind.

Edit: My most recent MP play session was with some guys at work last year - invited me to play The Forest (where we wasted so much time getting lost, idling figuring out what to do as a group) - reminded me why I quit playing MP - ever since I havent played with them lol.

I felt like I was held back and it felt like a waste of a perfectly good weekend I could used for something productive or actually progress with some of my other SP games.

I agree it depends on the person, but I think it also depends on the game/genre.

For instance, social games give me a lot of lasting joy when they are local.
But online games shoot my anxiety and depression levels up almost as much as social media and Youtube videos do. Not because of I find them inherently negative, but because I find them to be a colossal waste of time! And the back of my head is just screaming with the thought of “life, health, and money are passing you by you fucking moron!” when I play these. I think this dates back to when I played an online game called Utopia, and StarCraft on the battlenet.
If I want a story, I play RPG or adventures/graphical adventures.
If I want entertainment, I probably play a very cinematic RPG, or an action game.
If I want problem solving, I usually pop open a casual skill-based game (Something like Brain Age, but on mobile, math and word based games, Countdown type stuff), or a puzzle game.
If I want to get the blood flowing with some mild entertainment, a motion-game works wonders, and they tend to be mood elevators.
I haven’t played a multiplayer motion game in some time, but I find those are the best experiences for joy.

It’s kind of why I like games like Witcher 3 and Xenoblade Chronicles X so much, I can get a lot of these things with just one game.

Exact reason why The Witcher 3 is my favourite of all time even aside from the obvious like it having perfectly sized gameplay loops to suit any sized session of gaming from a half hour to a full Sunday or the OST or The vibes. It's that it is all major genres and aspects of games rolled into one and it excels very strongly in most areas and things one would want from a game. While it doesn't do things you would like to see like Skyrim simulation, killable NPCs, a law and order system for thieving it still rises above in so many areas to beat just about any other game and the games that do come close are objectively an effort to play like certain CRPGs and are designed to be slow going, The Witcher 3 goes at whatever pace you choose to go at and if your good enough you can ignore massive chunks of content with no need to level. It's such a masterpiece, so much so that I think it was a fluke much like Clair Obscur E33 recently, talent is involved for sure and there is intent in some of the genuis design but much of what makes them masterpieces had to be a fluke. I fear CDPR won't be able to replicate TW3 and the same with SandFall on a sequel to Expedition 33. 

Yep. MMO's suck. As someone with 2,500 hours in FF14 and actually glad that games expansions came out poorly I can say they are not only like a narcotic drug but can do as much damage, perhaps not physically but definetly mentally and to a person's life. This is one genre I can say that is most certainly a hit to most people's mental health... although, some people tend to be able to handle them and just get on the evening for an hour with no problems. 

Unfortunately I know exactly what you mean 😕

Indeed. Just wanna know what the Souls on here think. 

VR can be good for your physical health too. I seen a lot of people in the VR community repot they are loosing weight in the PSVR1 days and many women still site quest as their daily workout.