New Surprising Treatment for PTSD: A Game of Tetris?

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder characterized by unpleasant and intrusive visual memories of a traumatic event. I.e flashbacks. Researchers have been trying to find effective treatments and even preventions for it. One new study shows video games—Tetris in particular—can help reduce PTSD symptoms.

Surprising? Yes!

Far-fetched? No.

It all happens in the mind.

So how does it work?

What makes Tetris interesting is how it naturally and subconsciously compels you to mentally rotate the objects. As the object comes down, you're busy imagining how it would look like when rotated at different angles.

The researchers grouped participants with PTSD into two groups. One group was asked to play Tetris with mental rotation. The others listened to the radio, which is a non-visual task.

Before the experiment, all participants were having an average of 15 flashbacks weekly. 5 weeks after the experiment, PTSD patients who played Tetris had an average of only 1 flashback weekly, while the control group had 5.

Six months after the treatment, participants in the gaming group had less severe symptoms of PTSD than the control group.

Read the full report here.

It's indeed surprising, as the study author Emily Holmes noted, that a strategy as simple as playing Tetris can help reduce PTSD symptoms. But as data has shown us, it is quite effective, and the impact can last for months.

What's more, this intervention doesn't require a therapist. If you have PTSD, you can reduce your traumatic flashbacks by simply playing Tetris at your convenience, ensuring you focus on the mental rotation of the game.

By replacing intrusive memories using a visual task like Tetris, you may effectively reduce PTSD symptoms.

This can be part of your PTSD treatment. Something you do in your spare time after your sessions with your mental health care provider.

If you haven't begun treatment but would like to take back control of your life, contact us today.

Author

Satu H. Woodland, PMHCNS-BC, APRN Satu Woodland is owner and clinician of Hope Mental Health, an integrative mental health practice located at Bown Crossing in Boise, Idaho. She sees children, adolescents, and adults.  Ms. Woodland with her background in nursing, prefers a holistic and integrative approach to mental health care that addresses the mind and body together. While Ms. Woodland provides medication management services in all her patients, she believes in long-lasting solutions that include a number of psychotherapies, namely cognitive behavioral therapy, exposure and response prevention therapy, attention to lifestyle, evidenced based alternative psychiatric care and spirituality. If you’d like to gain control over your mental health issues, call Hope Mental Health at 208-918-0958, or use the online scheduling tool to set up an initial consultation.