A single treatment session, which includes the video game Tetris, can reduce symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). With just one guided treatment session, researchers saw positive effects that persisted after five weeks and even six months after treatment
https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12916-024-03569-8
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Mental rotation using Tetris
The treatment is based on what is known as mental rotation, which lies at the heart of Tetris. When you look at an object from one angle, you can imagine what it would look like if it were rotated to a different position and could be seen from a different angle.
The study involved 164 participants (see fact box). All participants monitored their intrusive memories of trauma for a week. After that they were randomized to one of two conditions. Half the group were asked to play Tetris with mental rotation. The other half, the control group, was given a non-visual task: listening to the radio. All participants kept a diary about their flashbacks. At the start of the study, participants were experiencing an average of 15 flashbacks a week. At a five-week follow-up, participants in the control group had an average of five episodes a week, but those in the gaming group had an average of just one.
At a follow-up six months after treatment, participants in the gambling group had less severe symptoms of PTSD. In an assessment using a recognized questionnaire (PCL-5) often used to assess all PTSD symptoms, the gaming group experienced around half as many as problems as the control group.
[https://www.news-medical.net/news/20240920/Study-shows-video-games-can-alleviate-PTSD-flashbacks.aspx](https://www.news-medical.net/news/20240920/Study-shows-video-games-can-alleviate-PTSD-flashbacks.aspx)
I recall Dr. Jane McGonigal talking about this in the Ludology (video games) episode of the Ologies, which is a great listen and was what broke me into that podcast
Always thought games had the capacity to be used for things like this. Love seeing any positive new trend in treating PTSD.
I would get PTSD from being forced playing Tetris. I just can’t stand it.
I remember reading about this almost twenty years ago as an option for Afghan war vets
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2607539/
There’s a study from 2017 where car accident victims were given Tetris to play in the hospital.
It helped prevent the formation of PTSD symptoms:
[https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2017-03-28-tetris-used-prevent-post-traumatic-stress-symptoms](https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2017-03-28-tetris-used-prevent-post-traumatic-stress-symptoms)
Anecdotally I have CPTSD and absolutely LOVE Tetris. It’s like meditation for people who have a hard time meditating.
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That is amazing. in 2006 my little sister died in a car accident and I lived around the corner from a barcade (beer bar and classic arcade games) I made a habit of going over there and playing tetris while I drank a beer. (even got on the top ten score board) It was soothing.
I’d like to understand more about this. I had PTSD Tx that included EMDR and have found recently that I may need to have some followup Tx, but finding EMDR therapists has become very difficult.
I don’t think I’d be very good at Tetris, but this isn’t saying the player has to be *good*, just that they played. Would this type of therapy be easier for people with PTSD to access?
Another thing that helps is to not sleep as long as you can. It cleans out short term memory of the events.
The study doesnt seem to say what the frequency of playing tetris was? Like 15 min a day ? An hour ?
Anecdotally, my children and I were in a very traumatic accident a few years ago, and someone gave me this advice. I played Tetris frequently in the few days after, and I never developed any PTSD symptoms.
On the other hand, my children, who were staying with family while I recovered, suffered from anxiety and flashbacks. After about 6 months of therapy, they were much better, but I wish I had made them play.
I’ve heard this before and often wondered about how much I play Candy Crush, and Bejeweled before that existed, for years and years and years. I started dealing with my trauma last year and I haven’t played in months. Interesting!
I wonder if the addition of psilocybin would compound the PTSD benefits.
I have loved Tetris since the first time I played it. I have played other video games, but they are just not satisfying in the same way. I like that you’re not “being” a character, your not “fighting” or like doing “missions”. You’re just in the zone clicking stuff together efficiently, making the best decisions you make, always pushing forward.
Incidentally, I also have some serious CPTSD going on from childhood and isolated events in adulthood. I remember reading about this Tetris thing and felt really excited, it made perfect sense to me why I love this game so much, even though I don’t care much for video games in general.
Then I had to serve jury duty and the case was super messed up and the images and details of it truly horrified me. Just like really, really disturbed me and I recognized I was having a trauma response and remembered what I read about Tetris helping.
I played it extensively every day after jury duty and every time I had an intrusive thought about it at home. I swear, it actually freaking worked to lessen the severity of another horrible memory viscerally embedding itself in my mind to haunt me forever. I was able to compartmentalize it in a way I don’t think I would have been able to if I hadn’t done that. Kinda crazy!