Research is being done to help trauma victims who have painful flashbacks and memories. Scientists in the United Kingdom are investigating to see if a simple game like Tetris could be helpful.
Scientists based at the University of Cambridge, Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet, and the University of Oxford examined subjects who have seen videos of actual traumatic events, including those that result in death, and then had some of them play Tetris as a way to help them rid their mind of those traumatic images.
THIS MIGHT HELP THOSE WITH PTSD
This Tetris treatment might be another avenue for those experience PTSD, or post traumatic stress disorder. This is most commonly associated with those who are in the military. For those who are experiencing PTSD, they go through all types of treatment such as lifestyle changes, therapy, and medication.
TETRIS MAY HELP REMOVE INVASIVE MEMORIES OF IMAGES
The goal of the researchers was to remove the invasive memories associated with the trauma. These memories can include paralyzing flashbacks that cannot be controlled. There were 56 people that were used in this study. In the experiment, in those people who played Tetris 24 hours after seeing a film containing disturbing video footage, reports showed that fewer of these memories occurred in the days after the initial viewing.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
The researchers made a theory that playing the game Tetris reconfigured the visual memory because the brain focuses on both the visual game and the memory of the film.
Although the study admits that it was limited since seeing a traumatic image on TV is different from experiencing it, but the theory does show promise for those who experience traumatic events.
VISUAL TRAUMA IS NOT EXPERIENCED TRAUMA
Psychologists and trauma and crisis intervention specialists are skeptical of the correlation of the study to those who actually experience traumatic events. The comparison of a horror film trauma to the tangible or scent association of an experienced trauma is not there.
Although solid research will have to be done before the Tetris theory can be taken as a serious idea for dealing with post-trauma situations, it is an interesting hypothesis that shows promise nonetheless.
