Tetris Wipes Out Bad Memories, Say Scientists

Playing the popular game Tetris after a traumatic experience could significantly reduce emotional scars.

I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.  Or both.

When I read the headline, I thought about a technique called EMDR and noted to myself that this was so obvious there’s no way I could have made the connection.

Of course I was wrong.

The Oxford researchers discovered that if the game were played immediately after a traumatic experience, it would block the brain from storing the experience.  ["Sargeant,  I need you to take a statement, order a rape kit, and by God, get the Tetris up here on the double!"]

Back to EMDR for a moment, it’s a treatment given after trauma, sometimes long after, to help desensitize a patient to the particular trauma.  My information is that it’s either very successful or not successful at all.  It can also cause retraumatization if done incorrectly.

There’s just no telling what you’ll find in the news, is there? Now who is going to wipe out Tetris?