Trauma patients: Tetris play against flashbacks
Lisa Vogel studied departmental journalism with a focus on medicine and biosciences at Ansbach University and deepened her journalistic knowledge in the master's degree in multimedia information and communication. This was followed by a traineeship in the editorial team. Since September 2020 she has been writing as a freelance journalist for
More posts by Lisa Vogel All content is checked by medical journalists.The computer game Tetris could reduce flashbacks of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A study shows: When used in a targeted manner, the brain is tricked and traumatic memories fade.
Flashbacks are the most important and most distressing symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The victim is caught in a flash by a traumatic experience and relives the terrible situation: moments from a war effort, rape or accident. Noises, smells or situations can trigger the psychological state of emergency again and again.
Less flashbacks
A simple but successful computer game could help reduce such flashbacks: Tetris. Figures made up of cubes sink from the “sky” of the monitor, which the player puts together as skilfully as possible by turning and adjusting them to form a seamless surface.
Researchers led by Prof. Henrik Kessler from the Ruhr University Bochum had 20 test subjects with complex PTSD play Tetris. The participants noted all flashbacks and their contents in a diary beforehand. Then once a week they wrote down one of the stressful memories on a piece of paper and tore up the piece of paper - without talking about what was written. Immediately afterwards, they played Tetris on a tablet for 25 minutes.
In the week following the Tetris intervention, the frequency of treated flashbacks decreased by an average of 64 percent. But the other flashbacks were also reduced by eleven percent. The experiment worked for 16 of the 20 test subjects.
The same areas of the brain are active
"When patients get a detailed picture of the stressful memory, it activates the areas for spatial and visual processing in the brain," the researchers write. Then the memory trail left by the memory becomes temporarily unstable and can therefore be influenced.
The digital puzzle game probably claims the same areas in the brain and the two processes need the same resources. The brain cannot process both requests at the same time. Then a so-called interference occurs - and the stressful memory is stored again in a weakened manner.
Help in the waiting time
The procedure is not a substitute for therapy. The experience still has to be processed with therapeutic help. In addition, the Tetris Rounds do not work against other symptoms of PTSD such as anxiety, difficulty concentrating, and insomnia. The targeted use of the game could, however, take the pressure off the patient significantly.
"PTSD can be treated well with the available therapies," says Prof. Henrik Kessler, senior physician at the Ruhr University Bochum and trauma therapist. “However, there are many more patients than therapy places.” In 2018, people with mental illnesses had to wait an average of more than five and a half weeks for a consultation with a psychiatrist. It takes an average of almost 20 weeks to start therapy.
"Our hope is that we can develop a treatment that people can perform on their own when there is no therapy place available," says Kessler.
The team is currently testing the trial on a larger study group to confirm its effectiveness. In addition, the researchers are conducting basic studies in order to decipher the underlying mechanism.
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