Can the most famous video game character benefit our mental health? This is what a Study carried out by a team of researchers from the University of Bonn (Germany), presented for evaluation in August 2023 and mentioned a few days ago by the specialized site Psypost, before being disseminated by various media.
Published in the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry, the study aims to measure the effect of the video game Super Mario Odyssey (Switch, 2017) on certain depressive symptoms. With encouraging results.
46 patients studied
To carry out the study, the researchers recruited 46 patients diagnosed with depression. Three groups were created. The first group of 14 people was subjected, for six weeks, to 18 sessions of 45 minutes of playing Super Mario Odyssey.
A second group of 16 people also underwent stimulation sessions, this time through a standardized cognitive training program (called CogPack). The third group (16 people) followed their usual treatment, based on psychotherapy and/or pharmacological treatment.
What can be said that Super Mario can cure depression? C’est évidemment loin d’être aussi simple, prévient Séverine Erhel, maîtresse de conférences en psychologie cognitive à l’Université Rennes 2. Mais la spécialiste souligne le sérieux de l’étude, et l’effet positif que peuvent avoir certains jeux vidéo in this context.
A study consistent with the scientific literature.
In the study, the researchers specify the effects of exposure to Super Mario Odyssey on some depressive symptoms.
“The results suggest that cognitive training based on video games can increase subjective well-being, imply higher levels of motivation in training and improve visuospatial memory,” concludes the study.
As Séverine Erhel explains, visuospatial memory is “our ability to manage visual information, in particular to locate objects in space.” An essential function in our daily lives, which can be altered by depression. Conclusions that “are totally in line with the scientific literature” on the beneficial effects of video games on our mental health, says the Tech&Co specialist.
“Flow state”
The results should be taken with caution, warn researchers such as Séverine Erhel, given the limited number of patients studied and that additional research will be required. But they reinforce the research already carried out by the specialist, during her own work, this time focusing on anxiety.
“And 3D is not trivial, immersion favors absorption in the video game. The fact of evolving freely in a virtual world and the player’s progression are also important to satisfy their psychological needs and motivate them to continue with this recovery activity,” Add. .
If the promises of the use of video games in depression are real, the positive role of this entertainment remains to be clarified, especially depending on the types of games and the types of player profiles.
In the best of cases, video games can only constitute a complement to proven treatments for this mental disorder, specifically psychotherapy and/or pharmacological treatment, recalls the researcher.
Source: BFM TV
