Tetris computer game can protect against post-traumatic stress disorder

Physicians state interesting effect of Tetris play after traumatic events
In the 1980s, the computer game Tetris was a huge success. The popular game was sold more than 100 million times. Researchers now found that playing Tetris after traumatic events can prevent post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from occurring.

Researchers from the internationally recognized Oxford University and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden found in an investigation that the computer game classic Tetris can help prevent post-traumatic stress disorder occurring after traumatic events. The physicians published the results of their study in the journal "Molecular Psychiatry".

Tetris is a widespread and very popular game. Experts have now discovered that playing Tetris after traumatic events can protect the mental health of those affected. (Image: ggebl / fotolia.com)

What is Tetris??
Tetris is one of the most popular computer games ever invented. It was developed in 1984, but even today millions of people around the world are still playing this puzzle-like game.

What causes post-traumatic stress disorder??
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is particularly prevalent in people who have experienced situations such as war, torture, rape and traffic accidents, the experts explain. Most people do not develop post-traumatic stress disorder after such a trauma. However, when patients develop PTSD, they have relapsing and obtrusive memories or flashbacks.

Tetris as a behavioral intervention?
Usually, those affected will seek treatment after the symptoms have been diagnosed. But there has been no intervention that has helped prevent the trauma, say the scientists. Our hypothesis was that after trauma, patients would have less intrusive memories if they were to play Tetris as part of a short-term behavioral intervention. Emily Holmes from the Karolinska Institute.

Memory consolidation is to be disturbed by playing by Tetris
Because the game is visually challenging, we wanted to determine if it could prevent the intrusive aspects of the traumatic memories from establishing, the expert adds. For this, the scientists tried to disrupt the process of so-called memory consolidation.

Physicians examined 71 participants in their study
For their study, the researchers examined 71 accident victims of motor vehicle accidents. Half of these subjects were asked to briefly remember their trauma and then play Tetris, say the authors. The other participants were used exclusively as a control group.

Playing Tetris led to less intrusive memories
The researchers found that those who had played Tetris had less intrusive memories of the trauma within the week following the accident. The experts also found that the negative intrusive memories decreased faster compared to the control group.

Tests on larger groups of patients should check the psychological benefits
Next, the results should be reviewed on a larger patient population, say the authors. So the scientists want to determine whether the psychological benefits of the intervention persist for a longer time.

Further research is needed
Everybody can experience a trauma through a bad situation, says the professor. It would make a huge difference to the sufferers if we could create simple behavioral-psychological interventions with computer games to prevent post-traumatic suffering and save people those grueling intrusive memories, adds author Holmes. Further research was needed to better understand and investigate its effects. (As)