This is something that has been over-hyped for the sake of dramatization. Paul Morphy[1] and Bobby Fischer[2] are great examples of people who most likely were already psychologically 'at risk', and 'went over the edge' because of their obsessive chess playing. Certain potentially self destructive traits, largely obsessiveness and paranoia, can be of great use when playing chess if they are moderated. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Morphy#Abandonment_of_che... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Fischer#Speculation_on_p...