Time to debunk the myth revolving around the negative impacts of technology. A scientific research, lead by the Hunter College and The City University New York, uncovered a whole new truth. Gaming on mobile for 25 minutes can bring down anxiety levels of stressed souls. Mind boggling, isn’t it?

Researchers established their study from a proven cognitive treatment known as attention-bias modification training (ABMT). Concretely, ABMT is employed in the medical field to get patients undergoing anxiety disorders to shift their focus from sinister to merrier features of their lives.

“Given this concerning disparity between need and accessibility of services, it is crucial for psychological researchers to develop alternative treatment delivery systems that are more affordable, accessible, and engaging,” a member of the research team pointed out. This is where mobile apps step in.

The paper published in the Clinical Psychological Science, recommends the community to apply this technique in a smartphone game. The initiative can help to significantly decrease the anxiety level among people suffering from acute stress.

Prior to participating in the study, the 75 people who embarked on the project had scored big marks in a test measuring their degree of apprehension. Then the participants were invited to play a mobile game which asked them to track two characters while marking out their paths as swiftly and meticulously as possible for either 25 minutes or 45 minutes. For the last task, the players were deliberately put in a stressful situation whereby they had to speak in front of recording cameras. Researchers discovered that participants who were randomly selected for the ABMT version of the game showed less anxiety in the video-taped speech session than those who were part of the placebo group.

As researcher Tracy Dennis of Hunter College further highlighted in a statement, “even the ‘short dosage’ of the app – about 25 minutes – had potent effects on anxiety and stress measured in the lab” and currently the group of scientists is concentrating their efforts on “whether use of the app in brief 10-minute sessions over the course of a month successfully reduces stress and promotes positive birth outcomes in moderately anxious pregnant women,” she said.

To conclude, Hunter was quoted as saying “gamifying psychological interventions successfully could revolutionize how we treat mental illness and how we view our mental health”. Do you also believe in the healing power of technology?

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