Psychiatry and Video Games. Metia Interactive. Here you will find some of the games we've developed. To find out more on each game follow the links below, you will be directed to each games website. PUZZLE-FUELED PANDEMONIUM! Cube™is a puzzle game with action elements, simple in concept and highly addictive. Set within a 3d cubic world, the player explores and discovers their way through suspended 3d platforms and mazes. Each themed level contains its own variety of contraptions specifically suited for the theme. For more information visit this link The Sparx game is our first ‘Serious Games’ project designed and developed for the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences of the University of Auckland and funded by the Ministry of Health New Zealand. For more information please visit this link The Guardian is an exciting property being developed as a 3D action game with an original compelling storyline that combines paranormal and real world combat.
This Video Game Actually Treats Teenagers' Depression. Usually when "video games" and "depression" show up in a sentence together, there's a research team trying to prove that playing video games causes or at least correlates with depression, especially in kids and teens.
This time, however, the news is much more positive: at least one video game out there, it seems, can actually help fight depression. A research team in New Zealand has created a fantasy game explicitly designed to help teenagers combat depression, and so far, results look promising. The game is called SPARX, an acronym standing for "Smart, Positive, Active, Realistic, X-factor thoughts. " Each level of the game teaches a well-known theraputic or coping skill, much as classic talk therapy would.
One level teaches problem-solving skills, while another has the player literally shooting down negative and self-defeating thoughts and ideas. This isn't the first study to find that certain kinds of games can be effective treatments for depression. (Top photo: Flickr user Tjook) SPARX. Hidden Depression May Respond to Wii Treatment. Real-world exercise helps seniors with depression, what about the video version? RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—Antidepressant use among older adults has risen gradually over the past few decades, from roughly 4 percent in the late 1980s to 11 percent earlier this decade. Yet, only 1 percent of adults over the age of 60 are diagnosed with major depression, leading many psychologists to think that depression in older adults is either overlooked or misdiagnosed.
Reach Out Central: a serious game designed to engage young men to improve mental health and wellbeing. Young men in Australia have higher rates of completed suicide, antisocial behaviour, and drug and alcohol problems than young women.1 They are also less likely to seek help during the formative adolescent and young adult years, with results from the 2007 National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing indicating that only 13% of young men aged 16–24 years seek help when experiencing mental health difficulty.2 These figures are at odds with findings suggesting that most young people: know someone experiencing depression and can therefore identify the symptoms of the illness;3 are aware of evidence-based treatments; and can recognise the helpfulness of exercise, brief psychological therapies, medication and counselling, as well as the harmfulness of alcohol or illicit substances.4 4.
Hickie IB, Fogarty AS, Davenport TA, et al. Responding to experiences of young people with common mental health problems attending Australian general practice. Med J Aust 2007; 187 (7 Suppl): S47-S52. 3. 2. The effectiveness of SPARX, a computerised self help intervention for adolescents seeking help for depression: randomised controlled non-inferiority trial. Video Game May Help Treat Teen Depression. April 19, 2012 -- A video game that teaches teens to shoot down and label negative thoughts may relieve depression as least as well as more traditional talk therapy, a new study shows.
The game, called "SPARX," which stands for Smart, Positive, Active, Realistic, X-factor thoughts, was developed by researchers and teachers in New Zealand. Players choose an avatar and navigate seven realms in a 3D fantasy world. In each realm, they learn classic mental behavioral skills for combating depression. They learn problem-solving in a part of the game called the mountain province, for example. And in another level, they fight their way through a swamp of where they're assailed by black, smoldering balls called GNATS (Gloomy Negative Automatic Thoughts). "These GNATS fly at the avatar and say negative things like 'you're a loser,'" says researcher Sally N. "We used a lot of allegory," Merry says. Each realm takes about 30 minutes to navigate. Continued. Study shows gaming may be helpful in treating teen depression.
Video games specially designed to help users identify and address negative thoughts may be useful in treating depression among teens, according to findings recently published in the British Medical Journal.
In the study, researchers in New Zealand assigned 187 teens with mild to moderate depression to either play a video game or participate in conventional therapy sessions with counselors at schools and youth clinics. During the video game, called SPARX, players select an avatar and navigate seven realms of a 3D fantasy world. Each realm is designed to teach teens classic mental behavioral skills for treating depression. For example, on one level users battle their way through a swamp where they're attacked by black, smoldering balls called GNATS, which stands for Gloomy Negative Automatic Thoughts.
WebMD reports: Stanford researchers are also investigating the use of computer games to treat depression and anxiety in both teens and adults.