SuperBetter mentions a fascinating finding: playing Tetris can suppress flashbacks of traumatic images, and thereby effectively prevent post-traumatic stress disorder.
Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is a possible aftereffect of witnessing or experiencing a terrifying or tragic event. Its classic symptom is repeatedly recalling images of what happened. These painful, intrusive memories can keep disrupting a person’s sleep, causing panic and severe emotional distress for months or even years after the trauma. People with PTSD may repeatedly ‘see’ the event in their mind, as if everything were happening all over again.
Research shows that memory changes and takes shape within 6 hours after a traumatic event. In 2017, a group of scientists from the UK and Sweden published a paper arguing that playing Tetris for 20 minutes after a car accident—in the study, this was called a ‘Tetris-based intervention’—could help prevent the formation of painful, distressing memories of the trauma.
The researchers believe that playing Tetris soon after an accident occupies the brain’s visual-processing circuitry, blocking the replay of traumatic images while also disrupting memory consolidation—that is, preventing short-term memories from gradually becoming long-term memories. There is a window of opportunity after trauma, when painful memories can be disrupted or undone; in the process, the memories can become separated from the brain’s emotional center.
At the same time, the researchers found that not every video game can successfully ‘hijack’ the brain’s visual-processing center. The game has to consume a large amount of visual-processing resources, which is why Tetris and match-three games such as Candy Crush are ideal: players have to move and connect objects in the game according to visual patterns. Because these games demand so much visual attention, many players often see the game in their mind—the colored blocks endlessly falling, or different candies swapping places. As soon as they close their eyes, the game keeps replaying.
Here comes the important part!!
Multiple studies have also found that when you feel a strong craving for something, playing Tetris for just 3 minutes can reduce the intensity of that craving by 25%! This strategy works for essentially the same reason that match-three games can help prevent flashbacks and PTSD.
Research shows that cravings have a strong visual component. The more you imagine yourself enjoying the thing you crave, the more likely you are to give in. To resist a craving, all you need to do is get your brain’s visual-processing center to imagine some other food, and the craving will drop significantly.
Note
- This ‘Psychology Breakthroughs’ series consisted of short popular-psychology articles and casual reflections written at the time to accompany the content of Zhichao Wei: Psychology Breakthroughs. They were published on the now-closed platform Fantuan, and the original link no longer exists.
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