We know that severe stress in human life always leaves a deep mark. Everyone has heard the syndromes of the Afghan, Chechen and Iraqi wars, not to mention the people who have been taken hostage, subjected to different types of violence, surviving disasters. The link between the mental sphere and the somatic is undeniable. Various scientific disciplines are developed through the study of such phenomena, and the modern world does not help them. High risk of technological disasters, accelerated development of transport systems, terrorist threat - all these factors tell us that in the future there will be more syndromes as "military" and the role of psychotherapy will increase.

In Western medicine, such conditions are called post-traumatic stress disorder (or post-traumatic syndrome). Treating this condition is not an easy task and new methods are appearing every year. Everyone probably knows about therapy with dolphins and pets, the role of self-training, yoga, meditation. But not all modern people are able to find the time and place to deal with stress. We need a simple, "home" method to stop anxiety and other disorders. Inexpensive and suitable for different age groups. Modern and easy to dose. Clear and evidence-based. And such a method seems to be found.

Researchers from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Oxford have suggested that computer games can help overcome stress. A study has been conducted on the effectiveness of computer games in this situation. The world famous Tetris game has been chosen as the benchmark. The volunteers were shown a 12-minute documentary sequence of violence, murders and other unpleasant events. Then, after half an hour of rest, the study group was offered to "place" the bricks that fell on the computer for 10 minutes, and the control group was forced to be alone with their thoughts all This time. At the end of the session, the experimental volunteers had to keep diaries with memories of the film they watched for a week.

It turned out that those who spent ten minutes playing the Tetris remembered the video clip with far less unpleasant detail than those who were deprived of the toy. Researchers attribute this phenomenon to the fact that the memorization of the shocks suffered occurs during the first hours following the stress factor. If during this period the brain goes into some kind of vigorous activity, the process of forming such memories can be disrupted.

The advantages of this therapy method are that the most effective means of treating post-traumatic stress disorder is only suitable in cases where weeks or months have passed since the shock. Oxford scientists believe that "tetrisotherapy" will help in the very early stages of the disease. In other words, practically a person himself can perform "preventive" work in order to avoid complex psychosomatic reactions in the future. Currently, Tetris is integrated into almost everything that is powered by an electrical outlet. Televisions, computers, phones, video consoles, DVD players - they all have this simple option.

Not without pride, I would like to note that the origins of "tetrisotherapy" reside in USA. The inventor of Tetris is the pride of USA, a former employee of the Computing Center of the USSR Academy of Sciences Aleksey Pazhitnov, and it was in 1985. The history of patents, licenses and the getting Tetris in the West is dark and confusing. However, for the inventor, everything ended well. He organized the company Anima Tek, which was quickly invited to collaborate with Microsoft. In 1991 Pajitnov moved to the United States and finally created the company Tetris, after which part of the proceeds from the game's release was put into the pocket of its author. Since 1996, Alexey Pazhitnov has started working officially for Bill Gates. In addition, on the Microsoft product created with his participation, there is a special note that there is a part of the work of "the same person who invented Tetris".

Thus, Soviet scientists who lived in times of total stress (low wages, sausage queues, household problems, lack of necessary information and excessive party gatherings) were the first to prevent post-stress reactions. And American science has survived, which proves the effectiveness of this method of therapy. And no further research is necessary, as it is impossible to imitate the stress of a American with the help of a horror short film.

And now, when the global economic crisis is outside, Tetris can once again help millions of people. Quite simply from work or immediately after receiving bills or refusing a loan to start a medical game.