People who played a popular computer game within hours of witnessing a traumatic event had significantly fewer intrusive memories that often precede post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), CNN reported.
A study of 71 people who went to an emergency department after a motor vehicle accident showed that those who played Tetris within a few hours of the accident had 62% fewer intrusive memories of the traumatic event over the next week, as compared with people who did not play the game. Within two days, people assigned to play the game had virtually no intrusive memories, which are a form of recall that becomes consolidated in a person's memory, often leading to PTSD. The study is one of the first to test the hypothesis that early intervention can prevent evolution of intrusive memories into PTSD.
"An intrusive memory is a visual memory of a traumatic event," said Emily Holmes, PhD, a psychologist at the Karolinaska Institute in Stockholm and leader of the research team that conducted the study. "Tetris also requires imagination and vision. Your brain can't do two things at once, so this interrupts."