Playing Tetris for 20 minutes after a traumatic event could ‘prevent PTSD’, scientists believe

PLAYING Tetris after a traumatic event could help reduce your risk of PTSD, a study shows.

The popular video game helps lower the chances of developing flashbacks caused by post-traumatic stress disorder after experiencing a troubling event.

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It helps disrupt the memories that are retained of the sights and sounds witnessed at the time, researchers found.

Separate research shows playing the game for just 20 minutes could be enough to trigger the change in mothers who had childbirth-related issues up to seven years after the event — if their memory is reactivated.

Dr Catherine Deeprose, of the University of Oxford, who worked on the first study, said: “We know there is a period of up to six hours in which it is possible to affect certain types of memories that are laid down in the human mind.

“We have shown that in healthy volunteers, playing ‘Tetris’ in this time window can reduce flashback-type memories without wiping out the ability to make sense of the event.”

PTSD is an anxiety disorder that is caused by very stressful, frightening or distressing events and can result in nightmares, flashbacks and feelings of isolation.

It affects around one in 10 Brits at some point in their life — around 6.7million people.

Causes can range from serious road accidents to violent assaults, health problems or issues in childbirth.

Treatments can involve talking therapies, like cognitive behavioural therapy, and antidepressants like paroxetine or sertraline.

The first study, published in PLOS One, looked at how playing Tetris — one fo the top-selling video games of all time —- affected people’s chances of developing the illness.

Researchers showed a film to 40 healthy volunteers that included traumatic images of injury from a variety of sources, including adverts highlighting the dangers of drink driving.

After waiting for 30 minutes, 20 of the volunteers played Tetris for 10 minutes while the other half did nothing. 

Those who had played the computer game experienced significantly fewer flashbacks to the film over the next week.

This is a first step in showing that this might be a viable approach to preventing PTSD

Dr Emily HolmesUniversity of Oxford

Dr Emily Holmes, of the University of Oxford, said: We wanted to find a way to dampen down flashbacks – that is, the raw sensory images of trauma that are over-represented in the memories of those with PTSD.

“Tetris may work by competing for the brain’s resources for sensory information. 

“We suggest it specifically interferes with the way sensory memories are laid down in the period after trauma and thus reduces the number of flashbacks that are experienced afterwards.”

She added: “This is a first step in showing that this might be a viable approach to preventing PTSD.

“This was a pure science experiment about how the mind works from which we can try to understand the bigger picture. 

“There is a lot to be done to translate this experimental science result into a potential treatment.”

The second study, published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, looked at how the game could be used to treat mums years after having traumatic childbirths.

Researchers tracked PTSD symptoms in 18 women with the condition between seven months and 6.9 years after birth.

They were given “reminder cues” — like returning to the maternity unit — and asked to play Tetris 15 days later.

Researchers measured their PTSD symptoms throughout, finding they more than halved after they were asked to play the game.