Functioning game-oholics and the voodoo magic of video games

I'm sure a lot of us are aware of WHO officially recognizing gaming addiction, and probably have read some follow up news articles about it as well.

I really dislike how news and media outside of gaming communities in general portray gaming. It's always this foreign, voodoo magic-y thing. Often, games are just talked about as a giant whole, instead of breaking it down into reasonable categories. For example, being addicted to online poker is very different from committing to a MMO raid. But, to be fair, there is always that one guy that takes everything way too seriously.

In TV series, such as The Big Bang Theory (I know this is a cheap shot), their MMO episodes were outright offensive. It was definitely more of what non-gamers think of gamers than actual reality.

So I guess I'm just wondering:

• Have you ever been accused of being a gaming addict, and looking back were you?
• How do you explain gaming to non-gamers?
• Does your gaming actually cause any conflict between you and your family and friends?
• Did you ever forget or do something stupid because of your gaming?

Just anything I guess.