My mother passed away from cancer a few years ago. Apart from dealing with her loss, what was left of my family was tearing itself apart. For whatever reason, I started playing Bloodborne. The game was a few years old at that point. I wasn't really a fan of the Souls genre, but I just started playing it anyway. It was frustrating. But my own real life frustrations pushed me forward and I ended up getting lost in it, and the dark environment, and the persistent challenge somehow became my therapy.

It kept me occupied for a while until I beat it. I never really did the whole multiple playthrough thing, but it did help during a dark time.

By the time I was finished with Bloodborne, a fair bit of time had passed. I'd gotten married. I'd bought a house. And then problems with my work began. My partner also had problems at work and then they lost their job, and our household became a place of depression and anxiety. So once again I turned to video games for comfort. This time I started playing Monster Hunter World. I'd never played the series prior. Heck, I didn't even like MHW when I first started. But thanks to my own frustrations I just kept pushing, and pushing, until the game "clicked" and I became... slightly obsessed with it... Until finally it became a therapeutic device when helped me get by everyday.

Things are thankfully a lot better with my work and home life now. I still keep playing the Monster Hunter series to this day. I suppose it still helps me on a emotional level. Although I really just play it because it's fun!