Researchers at Uppsala University have shown that a short treatment program involving Tetris can reduce intrusive memories in healthcare staff after trauma.
Around one hundred healthcare workers who had experienced trauma at work took part in the study. They received a short digital program that included playing Tetris and mental rotation exercises.
The number of flashbacks dropped from an average of ten per week to fewer than one. The effect lasted at least six months.
– It is about competing out the intrusive images without talking about the trauma, says Emily Holmes, professor at Uppsala University.
The study is published in The Lancet Psychiatry and was carried out with the University of Cambridge.
