Computer game to assist with anxiety therapy
By Liz Lockhart
Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and St. John Fisher College have teamed up to develop a computer game that enhances the experiences of therapy for young people with anxiety.
One of the reasons why young people suffer from increased anxiety and seek therapy is the pressure to achieve top grades, researchers say. In order to enhance the experience of therapy this groundbreaking computer game is being designed to help young people to improve their everyday skills in self-control.
‘The use of physiological controllers in a personalised game platform allows us to help our patients help themselves in a new way,’ says Dr Laurence Sugarman, director of the Centre of Applied Psychophysiology and Self-Regulation in RITs College of Health Sciences and Technology.
The game starts with assessments that help the players learn about and describe their anxieties and repetitive behaviour by turning the players into game characters. Using physiological sensors that are built into the game hardware, players then learn how to monitor the physiological manifestations of anxiety and stress, or what is commonly called their fight or flight response. Finally the players use those same sensors as controllers to move themselves through the game by monitoring and controlling their characters and the stress responses they represent.
The new therapeutic approach incorporates biofeedback, cognitive-behavioral therapy and health education in a video-game setting familiar to teens and young adults.
The game was inspired by clients and will involve client input and feedback throughout the development process, researchers say. This game allows a unique extension of the therapist’s role that provides a fun, engaging platform for therapeutic change, while collecting data on psychophysiological change.
The development team expects to use the prototype for clinical trials this autumn and will then develop it for broader use.
Source: Rochester Institute of Technology
