Let the game begin

Feeling depressed? Beat the blues by playing video games, touted as viable and effective treatment for depression, researchers said. They help in brain training.

The findings showed that playing the specifically designed video game helped people feel they had some control over their depression. 

Such video games had the potential to target depression caused by both internal — such as chemical imbalance or hereditary factor — and external factors — like issues in job or relationship.

“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,” said Subuhi Khan from the University of California - Davis in the US. 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. 

—IANS