Bambi Eloriaga-Amago
Imagine going to rehab centers, but instead of getting counseling, they offer sitting through rounds of playing Tetris.
Yes, Tetris—the game that was developed in Russia in the 1980s and what some Filipinos refer to as “Brick Game”—has been found to limit the effects of PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and reduce drug, food, and sexual cravings.
A multidisciplinary team from the Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Universities of Oxford and Cambridge and the Karolinska Institutet claims that intrusive memories, or memories borne as a result of trauma, can be blocked or abolished simply by playing a game of Tetris.
As Tetris involves immersing oneself in a visuospatial task (or as this layman understands it, using practically all of your brain power to make sure that the falling block occupies the correct, corresponding empty space), it “interferes with the reconsolidation of intrusive memories,” the researchers explain. Perhaps other computer games could suffice, but the team chose Tetris because they think it to be the most “all-consuming and compelling” task currently existing.
The study further showed that playing Tetris within four hours or even the day after trauma significantly reduced the frequency of future flashbacks.
Meanwhile, a separate study conducted by psychologists at Plymouth University in the UK and Queenstown University of Technology in Australia showed how playing Tetris can reduce a person’s addiction or cravings for food, drug, or sex.
Results of their experiments show that even just playing three minutes of Tetris a day can reduce cravings by about one-fifth. Those who participated in the experiment reported a decrease in addictive cravings in as much as 56 to 70%.
Studies further suggest that long-term playing does not diminish in effect over time. Other visually-compelling games such as Candy Crush may also produce the same effect.
“We think the Tetris effect happens because craving involves imagining the experience of consuming a particular substance or indulging in a particular activity. Playing a visually interesting game like Tetris occupies the mental processes that support that imagery; it is hard to imagine something vividly and play Tetris at the same time.” Professor Jackie Andrade, from the School of Psychology and the Cognition Institute of Plymouth University, explained.
But are they really just substituting one form of addiction for another? That, perhaps, should be the focus of other studies. For now, dust off those Brick Games and get cracking on some therapy.
