Research finds video games therapy may help treat ADHD in children
There's a continuing need for more psychologists and psychiatrists to meet the demand from families with kids who have mental health issues, but one of the solutions for adults has been automated online psychotherapy, which can be very effective. And the question a group of US researchers has asked -- is whether adding the techniques of video gaming could work for kids with ADHD, depression and anxiety.
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00:00What they're trying to do, this is in addition to or instead of medications, is retrain the
00:07child into paying attention, completing tasks, controlling your impulses, that sort of thing,
00:14and doing it over and over again with the family to learn how to do it.
00:20And with depression, which is actually quite rare under the age of 10, but with depression
00:24it's about reframing your thinking, that the world is not as negative as it seems and here's
00:28some realistic thinking that could change that.
00:32What video gaming adds is an element where the child just keeps on doing it without really
00:39thinking too hard or being in trouble.
00:41So you would introduce characters, tasks which you've got to complete, such as paying attention.
00:48You might not realize that's what you're doing as a child, or controlling impulses or completing
00:52a task.
00:53Maybe you get to a certain level, you get points, then you go to the next level.
00:56And it makes sense.
00:58And any parent of a child, not any, but parents of ADHD children have commented that while
01:04they're not completing tasks at school or at home, they'll sit in front of a video game,
01:08an ordinary video game for hours on end because they're designed to be addictive.
01:13So this is essentially similar therapy to what a psychologist would give you with gaming
01:19on top.
01:20And what they showed by bringing together the available evidence is that for depression
01:24and ADHD, you do get modest improvements in the symptomatology of these conditions
01:31in children.
01:32So it does make a difference.
01:33In some children, it's a big difference.
01:35In some children, it'll be very little difference.
01:36But on average, it's a modest difference and no effect, interestingly, on anxiety.
01:41Why is that?
01:43We can't explain that.
01:44But one explanation could be that screens are thought to be part of the problem in anxiety
01:49disorders and adding a screen and having to compete against yourself and so on may
01:54well increase anxiety.
01:56So it may not be the natural mode to put video gaming on top to fix up anxiety disorders
02:02in children.
02:03Nonetheless, for children, and this is what it was designed to do, who are on waiting
02:07lists to see a psychologist, this could be a useful thing for a clinic to do is to offer
02:12the programs and then maybe one day you can find out which children are most likely to
02:18benefit a lot from it and which children are not likely to benefit, in which case those
02:23kids could be accelerated on the waiting list.
02:25So it's a useful addition in a world where it's hard to see how we can ever have enough
02:30professionals to look after these kids.