Using Video Games to TREAT Addiction & Other Health Issues

I've written before about using video games to help target a number of disabilities and challenges from brain injuries to other issues.

Of course most Recreation Therapists poo-poo anything with a screen, though younger Therapeutic Recreation Specialists are more open minded. And video games have been readily adopted in Physical Therapy rehabilitation facilities, especially the Wii full range of motion.

And of course as a Recreation Therapist, we all understand the power of recreation and games to help facilitate recovery, health, and wellness, and making otherwise unpleasant exercises fun, to help achieve client therapeutic and educational goals!

I wanted to quickly put together a few links on this page about research into using video games FOR treatment (rather than treatment for video games), including substance dependency.

 I have mentioned many times the game "Life is Strange", and how it is an excellent game for pre-teen/young-teen females (and potentially males though not the target audience), using a Choose Your Own Adventure like approach, but you can re-choose (to a limited extent) if you don't like the results.

And of course I've spoken at length about the benefits of bio and neuro feedback linked with video games, and my acquisition of bio and neuro feedback & monitoring EEG equipment.

Generally I have kept the focus to RPG-based video games, but for this page I am going with any video game format.

From these video game results of various games, consider then the added complexity of role-playing style games and the additional layers of potential benefits added from targeted and responsible participation in the activities.

This was just a quick 15 minute search (mostly skipping the aforementioned white noise) using the terms:

• addiction recovery video game
• video game for drug rehabilitation

Here are some of the results I found of interest. I have not had a chance to read most of them, I have only skimmed them so far. I hope to delve in more deeply soon however...

• A pilot trial of a videogame-based exercise program for methadone maintained patients - Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment - http://fulltext.study/preview/pdf/328858.pdf

• Heavy Rain Addiction and Recovery Video Game - https://danielj09.wordpress.com/tag/heavy-rain-addiction-video-game/
• "video game playing has been associated with structural neural changes, including a significant grey matter increase in the hippocampal formation in healthy individuals [103]. Computer games that are custom-made to be enjoyable, attention-grabbing and easily accessible may thus comprise an appealing treatment option for patients and a cost effective option for health services." - The impact of neuroscience on society: cognitive enhancement in neuropsychiatric disorders and in healthy people - http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/370/1677/20140214

• Using video game components to navigate brain imaging - A Motion Videogame for Opioid Relapse Prevention. - 3D-Neuronavigation - In Vivo Through a Patient's Brain During a Spontaneous Migraine Headache - http://www.jove.com/visualize/abstract/26213838/a-motion-videogame-for-opioid-relapse-prevention

• Video game developed at USC lets patients play their way through rehab Mystic Isle tracks the coordinates of players’ movements, giving therapists valuable data on progress and future sessions - https://news.usc.edu/79932/video-game-developed-at-usc-lets-patients-play-their-way-through-rehab/

• 10 Video Games That Are Secretly About Addiction - https://rehabreviews.com/10-video-games-secretly-addiction/ (about games that address addiction to other things) (not therapeutic per se)
• Virtual Reality Game Helps Drug Addicts Recover - http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/story?id=3819621 
• Software developer hopes to turn rehab into video game - http://phys.org/news/2015-03-software-rehab-video-game.html
• Early response markers from video games for rehabilitation strategies - http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2670970
• The suburbs are the latest battleground for heroin. Can this video game-like software help save lives? - https://www.yahoo.com/news/can-this-video-game-like-software-keep-suburban-kids-away-from-heroin--191136752.html?ref=gs
• Video Games May Help Stroke Rehabilitation - http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/749703
• Video Game-Based Cognitive Rehab Beneficial in Multiple Sclerosis - http://www.neurologyadvisor.com/multiple-sclerosis/video-game-cognitive-rehabilitation-in-multiple-sclerosis/article/482039/
• Can Multiple Sclerosis Be Treated with Video Games? - https://multiplesclerosisnewstoday.com/2014/12/15/national-ms-society-funds-video-game-for-multiple-sclerosis-and-stroke/ (another take on the one above)
• The Effectiveness of Casual Video Games in Improving Mood and Decreasing Stress - Journal of Cybertherapy & Rehabilitation - http://www.ecu.edu/cs-hhp/biofeedback/upload/The-Effectiveness-of-Casual-Video-Games-in-Improving-Mood-and-Decreasing-Stress.pdf
• Serious games in prevention and rehabilitation—a new panacea for elderly people? - https://eurapa.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1007/s11556-011-0093-x
• Playing It Safe: A Video Game Probing the Relationship Between Addiction, Gender, and Avoidance - http://www.psychiatrist.com/jcp/article/Pages/2016/v77n03/v77n0321.aspx
• Video Games: changing tactics in Mental Health treatment - http://www.polygeia.com/video-games-changing-tactics-in-mental-health-treatment/
• The Role of Video Games and Virtual Reality in Psychiatric Treatment - http://www.psychiatryadvisor.com/practice-management/the-role-of-video-games-and-virtual-reality-in-psychiatric-treatment/article/408029/
• Could Video Games Possibly be Prescribed for ADHD Treatment? - http://www.c8sciences.com/could-video-games-possibly-be-prescribed-for-adhd-treatment/
• Vera Video Game FDA Cleared to Bring Virtual Rehab Specialist Home (VIDEO) - http://www.medgadget.com/2015/11/vera-video-game-fda-cleared-bring-virtual-rehab-specialist-home-video.html
• A pros and cons article - The Truth About Video Games and the Brain: What Research Tells Us - http://www.scilearn.com/blog/video-games-brain

• CAN VIRTUAL REALITY TREAT ADDICTION? RESEARCHERS ARE PLUGGING IN SMOKERS, ALCOHOLICS, AND EVEN CRACK ADDICTS TO EXPOSE THEM TO A RELAPSE ENVIRONMENT--AND TEACH THEM HOW TO DEAL WITH IT. WILL IT WORK? - http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-04/addiction-therapy-and-virtual-reality

• Games: Improving Health: http://www.theesa.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Games_Improving_Health-11.4.pdf
• Tetris Video Game Helps Treat Lazy Eye - http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/259547.php
• The Next New Drug: An FDA-Approved Video Game - http://pharmamkting.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-next-new-drug-fda-approved-video.html
• Despite what you may think, video games give us the tools to be heroes in real life - http://www.theplaidzebra.com/despite-what-you-may-think-video-games-give-us-the-tools-to-be-heroes-in-real-life/
• Playing this mobile video game could help fight dementia, say scientists - http://www.holmleigh-care.co.uk/playing-mobile-video-game-help-fight-dementia-say-scientists/
• Counter striking psychosis: Commercial video games as potential treatment in schizophrenia? A systematic review of neuroimaging studies - http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149763415302402
• Video Game-Based Cognitive Rehab Beneficial in Multiple Sclerosis - See more at: https://bioplushealth.com/bph/video-game-based-cognitive-rehab-beneficial-in-multiple-sclerosis/#sthash.OXezpIYh.dpuf
• Video Game Teaches Teens Consequences of Drug Use - https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=266&dat=20061130&id=ygMxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=wd8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=5374,5389787&hl=en
• Pains of imprisonment in a “lock em’ up” video game: implications for a peacemaking discourse through new media experiences - http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10282580.2015.1101690?journalCode=gcjr20
• Video Game Camera Could Aid Multiple Sclerosis Treatment - http://www.medindia.net/news/video-game-camera-could-aid-multiple-sclerosis-treatment-162629-1.htm
• Video Game-Based Cognitive Rehab Program Beneficial in MS - http://www.jhccc.org/poc/view_doc.php?type=news&id=179775&cn=75
• Turning tedious physical rehabilitation exercises into a video game - See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/tech-gadgets/article/turning-tedious-physical-rehabilitation-exercises-into-a-video-game#sthash.lAHVjpF8.dpuf
• Neurofeedback Therapy Is an Effective, Non-Drug Treatment for ADHD - https://lakesideconnect.com/early-childhood-education-and-development/neurofeedback-therapy-is-an-effective-non-drug-treatment-for-adhd/ 

Some caveats:

VIDEO GAME SEIZURES - http://www.videogameseizures.org/Prevention_Strategies.html