Gaming therapy for depression

Depression is one of the common mental disorders. Its prevalence rate is up to 10%. Therefore, many clinicians and researchers are eager to develop new effective and cost-free treatment strategies.

Recently, gaming attracts attention as a way to reduce depressive symptoms of patients.

Hindustan Times: Video games may be a viable treatment for depression, finds study

Gaming has been considered to be utilized for several purposes in business such as the economy, negotiation, and leadership. And, some cognitive therapists are attempting to introduce its method in the game.

In this game application, the player has to defeat some monsters. The monsters represent some patterns of cognitive distortion which are frequently seen in depressive patients. Players can learn how to modify their malfunctioning cognitions into adaptive ones.

Gaming is usually for fun. One of its advantages is accessibility. Also, most games have some systems to make players continue gaming. It is expected to contribute to a reduced dropout rate of the patients from therapy.

However, current research suggests the effect of the gaming therapy is not continuous, although its effect is desirable.

In addition, some games are so addictive that some users become indulgent to the game. Indeed, some depressive people tend to paly games excessively. At present, therapeutic games are not so fun enough to make patients addictive, fortunately, or unfortunately. Beneficial utilization of gaming is a challenging but interesting theme.