For me, gaming is a huge stress relief, and now that I'm single, one of the only things I can do that work in such a fashion.
That's not what I want to type about, however. See, I have this issue that I know other people have because (cue Lewis Black Angry Snap) I've seen it! When I'm playing a game... publicly and online at least, it's nearly impossible to derive any sort of enjoyment from it unless I'm, not only doing good, but am the best player on my team or close to it. When I got a new mouse and my aim sucked, the frustration that ensued whenever I tried to play something skill based was enormous. Of course, this is a problem, because, yeah, it inhibits my ability to have fun in a game unless nobody is looking or I'm doing awesome without worrying about it.
I think this is an extreme extent of a lack of self-esteem, or even simply the fact I care much about what others think of me (my skill). I don't know a real way around it, really, even knowing the psychology behind it. Maybe when I hit 21 and gain the sudden wisdom that it doesn't matter, thing's will work out, but I doubt it. My dad has the same issues that are only minutely toned down.
Ways I've used to escape this issue include, of course, getting better, but that's boring. The most notable thing I've done to escape was the opposite of success. I used a sniper rifle in close quarter battle in a game that was very movement heavy (S4), thereby exempting me from all things related to score and kill/death ratio. It also improved my aim drastically until my mouse died.
So, there's how much of a fuckup I am, and I hope it can be mentioned in the next article, because it's an interesting and sadistic issue that messes up games for anyone with it. It's also a side effect of adolescence to an extent.