Tetris Could Treat Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
January 7th, 2009 | Written by Anthony Perez | Topic: Industry News
We all know that gaming can be seen as escapism, helping us get away from they daily stresses we encounter by immersing ourselves in a digital world. New research from Oxford University now shows that playing games such as Tetris shortly after a traumatic event can help reduce the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder by preoccupying the areas of the mind that store such memories.
Researchers at Oxford took 40 volunteers and overwhelmed them with startling images of personal injuries, and had one half of the group play Tetris shortly afterward while the other half did nothing. Over the next week, the half that played Tetris “experienced significantly few flashbacks” over the following week.
From the Times Online:
“This is only a first step in showing that this might be a viable approach to preventing post traumatic stress disorder,’ said Dr Emily Holmes of the Department of Psychiatry at Oxford University, who led the work.
“This was a pure science experiment about how the mind works from which we can try to understand the bigger picture.
“There is a lot to be done to translate this experimental science result into a potential treatment.
While undoubtedly interesting, the experiment is a bit crude. Its subjects aren’t people who actually went through any traumatic events and it assumes you can get a copy of Tetris in front of a patient shortly after their traumatic event.
Co-researcher Dr Catherine Deeprose added: “We know there is a period of up to six hours in which it is possible to affect certain types of memories that are laid down in the human mind.
Now, imagine a soldier being rushed to a hospital shortly after his jeep is struck by a surprise rocket. Nurses are checking his wounds, he’s a bit mentally unstable due to his concern over his injuries, and doctors are feverishly patching him up before he finally calms down and lays back. Do you think there is a good opportunity in the midst of all of that to place a laptop on his stomach and force him to play Tetris? Highly unlikely, but an interesting find nonetheless.
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