Tetris Can Prevent Flashbacks After You Have a Horrific Accident
Victims of car accidents may end up replaying disturbing memories in their head. But these obsessive memories – one aspect of PTSD – can be prevented. All you have to do is play Tetris after a crash, according to a new study.
Researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden have been experimenting with this idea for some time now , mainly showing volunteers from movies with blood. They found that playing Tetris after watching something traumatic seems to reprogram your brain to stop remembering. This new study brings this idea closer to practical advice by testing it with real-life car crash victims.
The researchers asked victims and witnesses of the accident to recall their memories of the accident and then play Tetris on the Nintendo DS XL for 20 minutes. The control group wrote for 20 minutes about how they spent time in the emergency department since arrival. Players had fewer intrusive memories the following week, researchers at Molecular Psychiatry said yesterday .
Tetris can work because it interferes with the formation of the visual component of memories: you can watch the event play out in your head, or focus on details like dripping blood. But you don’t want to overwrite the memory itself; it may interfere with, for example, talking about the event later with a therapist or insurance company.
In a previous study, the same researchers found that playing a quiz actually makes memories worse than not playing. They think it’s because the game has disturbed the memory without altering the visuals.
Other visual games, such as Candy Crush, may have the same effect as Tetris, but so far the research focuses specifically on Tetris. However, since video games can also help with pain , it might be worth installing them if you are in such a situation.