Study: Playing Tetris can help prevent PTSD
Baku, May 10 (AZERTAC). For years, doctors have tried to treat PTSD with everything from an anesthetic used during childbirth to hypnosis. But now, a study suggests a simpler approach: playing a particular video game. The findings offer hope for preventive treatment.
HealthDay News states that Post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD -- triggered by experiencing an event that causes intense fear, helplessness or horror -- can include flashbacks, emotional numbing, overwhelming guilt and shame, being easily startled, and difficulty maintaining close relationships.
And as the nation witnessed on September 11, 2001, trauma is an equal opportunity employer. It did not differentiate between race, gender, age, or social status. Both the traumatic event ( the planes slamming into the twin towers) and the distress experienced by survivors (of the 3,271 evacuees of the Twin Towers surveyed in a study, 96% had symptoms of PTSD), serves as an example of this fact.
The Associated Press reported that overall, New Yorkers took an emotional battering after the terrorist attacks, a study suggested more than 400,000 city residents experienced post-traumatic stress disorder.
The sudden abundance of sufferers from events such as this prompted Oxford University scientists to ask: what if an early intervention was available to treat people in the aftermath of trauma exposure?
They added: "The trauma field is in critical need of easily accessible treatment innovations to reduce PTSD symptoms in the immediate aftermath of trauma."
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