Tetris for Trauma
While peeling myself away from watching Los Angeles quite literally go up in flames, I came across a comment on a social media post that stopped me in my tracks.
The comment in question mentioned that Tetris can be used as a quick coping skill following a traumatic event. What?! Upon doing my own research, I found an article posted by the Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience that outlines how Tetris can, in fact, assist the brain in processing trauma. This may seem like nothing but it could very well be something.
The article discusses how the experimental group of men with combat-related PTSD were advised to play Tetris following therapy sessions. These men, when compared to the control group that did not play Tetris, showed Hippocampal volume increase – also known as increased activity in the region in the brain responsible for memory and emotion regulation. Amazing!
Additionally, the men who played Tetris following painful discussions about combat trauma not only showed immediate Hippocampal volume increase but also had reductions in PTSD, depression, and anxiety symptoms between the end of therapy and a follow-up conducted approximately six months later according to new MRI imaging and psychological assessments.
Why is this?! The article explains that researchers know that engagement in visuospatial tasks (like Tetris) are helpful following a traumatic event because it manually interferes with memory consolidation and decreases the brain’s ability to create intrusive memories. This study proved that Tetris is an ideal intervention as it does just this - blocks the brain from “cementing” trauma as it normally would.
I’m excited to see developments this way because so much healing feels “gate kept” at times - especially when a disorder like PTSD is in play. You don’t always need a therapy session to gain real healing and sometimes it really is something as simple and trivial as playing Tetris.
Check out the article here.
What are your thoughts? If you have experience with Tetris or something else that has felt effective - please let me know! I’d love to hear more.
Taylor