[HN Gopher] Tetris Game Shows Promise in Reducing PTSD Symptoms
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       Tetris Game Shows Promise in Reducing PTSD Symptoms
        
       Author : giuliomagnifico
       Score  : 43 points
       Date   : 2024-09-21 20:09 UTC (2 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.legalreader.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.legalreader.com)
        
       | lovegrenoble wrote:
       | Well, this Tetris is addictive... Tangram as well (for mind-
       | benders): https://blocks.ovh
        
         | mdp2021 wrote:
         | Article says rotation is a crucial operation to the purpose.
        
           | duskwuff wrote:
           | The study _hypothesizes_ that rotation is significant, but
           | didn 't specifically test that. I wouldn't be surprised if
           | the effect were more general.
        
       | afro88 wrote:
       | Does this effect last after they stop playing tetris, or just
       | while they play? I know when I played tetris a lot, my brain
       | seemed to be stuck on it in a way. I would close my eyes and
       | almost see tetris shapes. I'd have dreams about it. And I would
       | kind of see various problems through a tetris lens, so to speak.
       | 
       | I wonder if that phenomenon is what is going on here. Your brain
       | uses slightly different pathways that are tetris influenced and
       | have lower risk of jumping into the PTSD paths.
       | 
       | I wonder if that lasts after they stop playing and their brain
       | reverts to non-tetris influenced ways of thinking.
        
         | pcardoso wrote:
         | Kind of related, the days when I pick weeds from my lawn I'll
         | see the weeds for hours when I close my eyes or even just
         | flashes with my eyes open. I guess the weed picking activity
         | stresses my pattern recognition and it continues working
         | afterwards. Very trippy, at least for regular garden weeds.
        
           | alexdong wrote:
           | This is totally a thing.
           | 
           | I think it also strengthens the neural pathway so that
           | <speculation>when the next time you face the many options,
           | the weight would be just slightly higher</>.
           | 
           | (I am assuming human brain works similar to how neural net
           | works. I can be wrong here. )
        
         | JansjoFromIkea wrote:
         | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetris_effect
        
         | jprete wrote:
         | "With just one guided treatment session, we saw positive
         | effects that persisted after five weeks and even six months
         | after treatment."
        
         | cryptoz wrote:
         | The only time I've ever lucid dreamed was when I played an
         | obscene amount of tetris, and I could actually play games in my
         | sleep. Like games that followed the rules, falling pieces
         | randomy, I could rotate them, lines would disappear, the whole
         | thing. It was really really wild.
        
       | calvins wrote:
       | The paper itself:
       | https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s1291...
        
       | petercooper wrote:
       | Some of what they're saying reminds me of EMDR therapy which is
       | also used (with mixed success) to treat PTSD, and is briefly
       | mentioned in the underlying paper:
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_movement_desensitization_a...
        
         | animal_spirits wrote:
         | This was my first thought when I saw the title. Lots of rapid
         | eye movement and stimulation alongside therapy might release
         | some of the stored trauma.
        
         | johnmaguire wrote:
         | From your link:
         | 
         | > There is debate about how the therapy works and whether it is
         | more effective than other established treatments.[3][9] The eye
         | movements have been criticized as having no scientific
         | basis.[10] The founder promoted the therapy for the treatment
         | of PTSD, and proponents employed untestable hypotheses to
         | explain negative results in controlled studies.[11] EMDR has
         | been characterized as a pseudoscientific purple hat therapy
         | (i.e., only as effective as its underlying therapeutic methods
         | without any contribution from its distinctive add-ons).[12]
         | 
         | I always assumed EMDR's effectiveness had nothing to do with
         | eye movements.
        
       | brontitall wrote:
       | This is a newer application of an existing approach
       | 
       | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2607539/
        
       | caseyy wrote:
       | Video games are an excellent distraction to break up invasive
       | thought patterns, too. There are several methods to use
       | distractions that therapists tailor to their clients.
       | 
       | This is part of why I work in the games industry, grandstanding
       | as it may sound. Games have helped me deal with complex PTSD at a
       | point in my life. It is important to do the other work and not
       | just rely on distraction as forever.
       | 
       | But distractions give you breathing room and some space away from
       | invasive thoughts. The trauma can then begin to heal.
        
       | hanniabu wrote:
       | Don't most coping mechanisms? What's needed is to reduce it
       | without reliance to continue doing it.
        
       | AI_beffr wrote:
       | this is nonsense. people will believe this but not believe that
       | being in ketosis cat put PTSD into remission. it has for many
       | people including myself. that frustrates me so much
        
       | tlhunter wrote:
       | I love how the banner image is of an unlicensed Tetris knockoff.
        
       | wannabeeez wrote:
       | try just about anything made by Nintendo (not just for Nintendo,
       | but by Nintendo). strong focus on wellbeing...
        
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       (page generated 2024-09-21 23:00 UTC)