Playing Tetris could 'reduce stress symptoms'

Those who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder could see their symptoms reduced by playing a popular computer game.

According to experts from Oxford University, playing Tetris soon after a traumatic experience could help erase bad memories of the incident.

It is also claimed that playing the game could reduce the number of flashbacks people experience. Dr Emily Holmes, a psychologist who led the study, said: "This is only a first step in showing that this might be a viable approach to preventing post-traumatic stress disorder."

Experts hope that the findings could lead to new treatments for people hospitalised after an incident, as well as those who have experience of war zones.

Post-traumatic stress syndrome often affects those who have experienced wartime trauma, such as seeing others injured or killed.

Those who took part in the experiment were shown traumatic images of injury then 30 minutes later, half played ten minutes of Tetris while the others did nothing.

Tetris is one of the world's most popular computer games and was first made nearly a quarter of a century ago, reports Infopackets.