Research has found that playing Tetris can help deal with memories of past trauma.
The trial involved around 100 NHS staff who had suffered trauma at work – such as witnessing deaths during the pandemic.
In this we found people who played classic video games experienced fewer flashbacks as part of their treatment.
Researchers from the UK and Sweden conducted the study, and experts are now hoping to test the method on a larger group of people.
Known as Imagery Competitive Task Intervention (ICTI), the treatment involved about 40 patients playing a slow version of Tetris while briefly recalling a traumatic memory.
The group were asked to imagine the grid of the game and use their mind’s eye to visualise the blocks.
It is believed that ICTI attenuates the vividness of traumatic memories by occupying visuospatial areas of the brain, which are responsible for analysing and understanding physical space.
Emily Holmes, professor of psychology at Uppsala University, who led the study, said, “Even a fleeting memory of past trauma can have a powerful impact in daily life by drawing attention to it and leaving people at the mercy of unwanted and intrusive emotions.
“By weakening the intrusive aspect of these sensory memories through this brief visual intervention, people experience fewer traumatic images.”
The remaining patients in the study either received standard treatment, or they listened to Mozart’s music along with a podcast about the Austrian composer.
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The findings showed that, within four weeks, those who received ICTI treatment had 10 times fewer flashbacks than the other groups.
After six months, 70% reported that they had no intrusive memories.
The treatment also helped deal with the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.
‘A real success’
Professor Holmes called the study “a real breakthrough”, stressing that the treatment is much more than just playing Tetris; it has been designed to be “as gentle, brief and practical as possible to fit into people’s busy lives”.
Tayla McCloud, head of research for digital mental health at Wellcome – which funded the study – claimed the impact of the trial could be “huge.”.
Ms McCloud said, “It’s rare to see something so accessible, scalable and adaptable across contexts. It doesn’t require patients to express their trauma in words and even overcome language barriers.”
The apparent psychological impact of the game, which was created by Alexey Pajitnov in 1984, gave rise to a phenomenon previously known as the Tetris effect, in which some people claimed to see falling blocks or buildings on the street moving together in their dreams after spending hours playing the game.
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