Bocci Francesco, Ferrari Ambra, Sarini Marcello
Playability Association, Via Sersane, 56, 25050 Ome, Italy.
Game Science Research Center, Via San Ponziano, 6, 55100 Lucca, Italy.
Healthcare (Basel). 2023 Jun 15;11(12):1767. doi: 10.3390/healthcare11121767.
Video games have been increasingly used as a form of therapy for various mental health conditions. Research has shown that video games can be used to treat conditions such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, and addiction. One of the main benefits of video games in therapy is that they can provide a sense of engagement and immersion that traditional therapy methods may lack. Additionally, video games can teach valuable skills such as problem solving, decision making, and coping strategies. Video games can also simulate real-life scenarios, allowing individuals to practice and improve social skills in a safe and controlled environment. Furthermore, video games can provide feedback and track progress objectively and quantifiably. This paper proposes an approach, the Video Game Therapy (VGT) approach, where game experience is put at the center of the therapy in a tailored way, connecting the individual patient's personality, the therapy's goals, and the suggested type of video game through the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).VGT's core assumption is that playing video games could facilitate patients in reaching conditions where traditional methodologies and therapeutic approaches could work best. VGT was elaborated according to the Adlerian therapy vision and, consequently, the different phases of Adlerian therapy and VGT match. Despite the use of video games in psychotherapy might have some adverse effects in specific cases, VGT is currently used in three associations with positive results in promoting emotional experimentation and literacy, social feeling, sense of identity, and activating cognitive processes. Future developments include expanding the use of VGT further to validate such results from a statistical point of view.
电子游戏越来越多地被用作治疗各种心理健康状况的一种疗法。研究表明，电子游戏可用于治疗抑郁症、焦虑症、创伤后应激障碍和成瘾等病症。电子游戏用于治疗的主要好处之一是，它们能提供一种传统治疗方法可能缺乏的参与感和沉浸感。此外，电子游戏能教授解决问题、决策和应对策略等宝贵技能。电子游戏还能模拟现实生活场景，让个人在安全可控的环境中练习和提高社交技能。此外，电子游戏能客观且可量化地提供反馈并跟踪进展。本文提出一种方法，即电子游戏疗法（VGT）方法，该方法以量身定制的方式将游戏体验置于治疗的中心，通过迈尔斯-布里格斯性格分类指标（MBTI）将个体患者的性格、治疗目标和建议的电子游戏类型联系起来。VGT的核心假设是，玩电子游戏可以帮助患者达到传统方法和治疗途径能发挥最佳效果的状态。VGT是根据阿德勒疗法的理念阐述的，因此，阿德勒疗法的不同阶段与VGT相匹配。尽管在心理治疗中使用电子游戏在特定情况下可能会有一些不良影响，但目前VGT已在三个协会中使用，并在促进情感体验与素养、社会情感、身份认同感以及激活认知过程方面取得了积极成果。未来的发展包括进一步扩大VGT的使用范围，以便从统计学角度验证这些结果。
