Can video games help relieve post-traumatic stress symptoms?

New Delhi: Dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)? A novel study has shown that playing video games can help lower symptoms of the condition, which can lead to terrifying nightmares and severe anxiety.

The study, published in BMC Medicine, provides “scientifically controlled evidence that a single guided digital treatment session can reduce the number of intrusive memories”.

It can also be used safely by patients, said the researchers from Uppsala University in Sweden.

Unpleasant and intrusive memories of a traumatic event in the form of mental images or flashbacks are the hallmark symptoms of PTSD. Avoidance, excessive tension, and problems such as difficulty sleeping and concentrating are others.

The team monitored the intrusive memories of trauma in 164 participants for a week. While half the group were asked to play Tetris -- a video game --, the other half or the control group, were asked to listen to the radio.

At the heart of Tetris lies the concept known as mental rotation. When a participant looks at an object from one angle, the individual can imagine what it would look like if it were rotated to a different position and could be seen from a different angle.

Emily Holmes, professor at Uppsala University said just one guided treatment session showed positive effects, which shows “it is possible to reduce the frequency of unpleasant and intrusive memories of trauma”. Holmes noted that if trauma can be reduced by “an everyday tool that includes video gaming, it could be an accessible way to help many people”.

At the beginning of the study, the participants had an average of 15 flashbacks a week. Just a week after, the video game group had an average of just one, while the control group had five per week.

Further, the effect lasted even after six months and the gaming group also experienced a significant reduction in all PTSD symptoms.

Holmes said it was “surprising that the treatment method was so effective and that the improvement in symptoms lasted for six months”.