Video Games May Be A Viable Treatment For Depression: Study
Fahad Shabbir (@FahadShabbir) Published June 01, 2017 | 04:50 PM
ISLAMABAD, June 1 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 01st Jun, 2017 ) : Playing a specifically designed video game may help people cope with depression, especially if they receive text reminders to play, scientists in the US have found.
Researchers from University of California in the US looked at results from about 160 student volunteers (with an average age of 21) who said they suffered from mild depression. Three-fourths were women, and more than half of the subjects were of Asian heritage, followed by white, Latino, and other ethnicities.
Using six, three-minute games, the study found in most cases that playing the specifically designed game helped subjects feel they had some control over their depression. Each game was an adaptation of neurophysiological training tasks that have been shown to improve cognitive control among people experiencing depression.
Portraying depression as something caused internally because of biological factors and providing a video game-based app for brain training made participants feel that they could do something to control their depression, researchers said in the study appears in the journal Computers in Human Behaviour.
This supports other research that shows that brain-training games have the potential to induce cognitive changes. Those users also gave high ratings for the usability of the app. Researchers, including Subuhi Khan, found that portraying depression as a condition caused by external factors led users to spend more time playing the game - again, perhaps giving them a feeling of control over their situation.
However, this result was likely due to immediate engagement and was unlikely to have long-term benefits, researchers said. "Through the use of carefully designed persuasive message prompts, mental health video games can be perceived and used as a more viable and less attrition-ridden treatment option," researchers said.
Related Topics
Recent Stories
Currency Rate In Pakistan - Dollar, Euro, Pound, Riyal Rates On 27 April 2024
Today Gold Rate in Pakistan 27 April 2024
HEC reviews curricula for environmental sciences degree programme
ICC Asia looking forward to an action-packed Asia Cricket Week
Yuvraj Singh named ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 Ambassador
Greece hands Olympic flame to 2024 Paris Games hosts
Two Kyiv hospitals evacuating over feared Russian strikes
World must act on neurotech revolution, say experts
Charles & Catherine's cancer diagnoses
Champions Alcaraz and Sabalenka through in Madrid Open
King Charles to resume some public duties during cancer treatment: palace
US defense chief announces $6 bn in security aid for Ukraine
More Stories From Pakistan
-
Two killed over land dispute
9 minutes ago -
Sargodha receives rain
9 minutes ago -
13 criminals held
19 minutes ago -
Saudi ministry warns against fraudulent Hajj schemes; urges vigilance, official channels for booking
9 hours ago -
SC to take up 9 identical petitions regarding judges' letter
10 hours ago -
Woman committed suicide in Pindigheb
10 hours ago
-
Teenage girl abducted in Hassanabdal
10 hours ago -
NTDC Super 8 Inter-Departmental Tape Ball Cricket Tournament concludes: GM (HR) team clinches the w ..
10 hours ago -
AJK President calls for overseas Kashmiris' proactive role to expose the Modi government's nefarious ..
10 hours ago -
AJK-wide campaign begins to vanish black-tinted glasses to all sorts of vehicles
10 hours ago -
Islamabad to be digitalized as pilot project under national digitalization plan: IT Minister
10 hours ago -
HEC reviews curricula for environmental sciences degree programme
10 hours ago