Specialized programs improve problem-solving issues, researcher says
Article Source: msnbc.com
from:msnbc.comVideo game brain training shows promise for schizophrenics
Seeded on Fri Aug 5, 2011 3:05 PM EDT (msnbc.com)
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That should be "people with schizophrenia." I know it sounds petty, but imagine if people with cancer were called "cancers." This type of language encourages negative stigma.
Well said, MissScarlet... As soon as I saw the title of the article, I thought the same thing.
MissScarlet,
I am glad you mentioned that. People should not be defined solely by their disorder/condition, it does not help to advance the filed of mental health when it already is stigmatized. Thank you
Learning Dynamics (learningdynamicsinc.org)
I am the author of this article (which can be found here: ) for the website Discovery News. In the original version, the term "schizophrenics" was not used in the headline for the very reasons you and other readers suggested.
MSNBC Health changed the headline, which does not accurately reflect how the article was produced and presented by its primary editorial team.
For some reason the link won't show up... You can visit Discovery News and find the article under the "Human" section.
http://news.discovery.com/human/video-games-schizophrenia-110804.html
Links don't show up if you're new to Newsvine.
Marianne: I'm glad you wrote the original article in a more sensitive way. MSNBC and other major news networks are a little behind on the times.
Video games - saving the
princessworld, one game at a time.This has promise and I truely believe this or similar processes along with proper medication (ones that work) and psychotherapy can do wonders to restoring one back to some bit of health and provide light in a dark world.
Wow nobody but me has any comment. Well thats typical. I am a viet nam vet who had major problems before I was sent off to war. The psychiatrist who did my pre-deployment eval. told the military that "Under no circumstances should this individual be assigned to a combat unit" yeah right.I had PTSD before I entered the Army, my father was an abusive alcaholic and beat my brother and I on a regular basis. Then after dropping us off an orphanage went off to party in Arizona. Upon His return he married another abusive alcoholic and took us home., yeah right.
I am severely medicated now thanks to the VA otherwise I would be locked away somwhere. I hear voices and occasionally I see ghostly people walking through my life. I have accute PTSD and I have flashbacks and a disorder called dissasociation where I may go for a drive or a walk and suddenly find myself in a place where I don't know how I gat there. I'm coping as best I can, I only have what we call episodes infrequently now. There was a time when I was homeless, living in the forests of Big Sur Ca. living by what I could beg, borrow or steal.
It's been a long and still ongoing struggle but I'm getting by. Believe it or not I found a woman who loves me in spite of my numerous adventures. I try to hang on as best I can but if it weren't for Nancy I'm quite certain I would have been dead a long time ago. So the point being any program that can help others get there head together without drugs is in itself a wonder. It's probaly too late for me but I hope some of our younger people will be helped.
As always
Take what you need
Leave the rest
Pilgrim11b10
Thank you Pilgrim11b10, thank you for sharing.
I dont know you at all, but from your comment it seems that you have learned to cope well with your life's struggles. I commend you for that, by the way it is never too late, not while we are still living.
As for not having to take medication, that is something many hope for, but I do believe this treatment is intended in combination with medication and therapy, rarely is just one method of treatment going to solely help.
The best to you!
Learning Dynamics (learningdynamicsinc.org)
world of Warcraft, specifically, is an online video game that could be helpful for many persons with cognitive or learning needs. There are elements requiring social integration and group dynamics, co-operative efforts needed for success of goals, promotion of group goals through both short and long term interactions with others and a specificity of learning steps one must aquire on the pathway to higher levels of play. In addition, it teaches things like work ethic through professional goals, honor concepts, esprit de corps, and many other laudable core values while allowing the players to feel they are just having 'fun'. In order to be successful in the game one must master these concepts and aquire these skills and each is carefully taught through a succession of steps and 'quests' and group experiences.
Well... what you just described should be just as easily the exact same script sequence, only replacing "life" with "world of warcraft" (did the original warlord grind up to warlord, not at all bashing the game... just in case you needed to know). Anyway, the point wouldn't be what it teaches, just what can ALTERNATIVELY teach to people who may not be taught through conventional methods. I'd caution you to slow down there :P .
I just wonder about my cognitive needs getting trained while on the mandatory meds. Having been on them at one team leads me to wonder just how much social learning I'd get in while half asleep all my so-called waking existence.
When it comes to psychopharma, the notification "take under doctor supervision" is a compromise between pharma just trying to sell and mental health wanting you to take in conjunction with therapy. The weak arse "compromise" (read: pharma lobbying for a vague statement that could MAYBE be interpreted as "only take in conjunction with therapy") ended up being the totally vague above statement... but, seriously... you aren't supposed to take meds for MOST disorders within the DSM without supervision... aka, therapy in conjunction. This would address your cognitive needs. Medication only addresses biological needs. There are also environmental AND cognitive needs to consider.
This type of research is exactly what we need in the mental health field. The meds for the mind are sometimes not so great for the persons taking them as the side effects are a drawback. I pray that maybe this could help my son who has Aspergers , ocd, and anxiety. His condition not only rules his life, but ours also and it is debilitating to say the least.
I agree. This is a fantastic advancement. Medication can be helpful but it's not an ideal solution because the underlying neurological problems are still there; you're treating symptoms, not curing a disease. This is a fantastic step in the right direction of actually solving the problem. It's like the difference between giving pain meds for a broken leg and setting the bone in a cast.
It would be great if a non-drug therapy can be found for these people. My cousin suffers from schizophrenia and has been on medication for a long time. The drugs bring her to a level where she functions somewhat "normally", although to the rest of us, you can see she isn't normal. And the side effects of the drug cocktails are just awful (eg: huge weight gain). Every so often she has to have the medications adjusted because they stop working, so it's a constant battle for her.
So hopefully this can stop the crazy guy that walks up and down the street swinging a big stick while yelling?
Wow. I hope it works. I have bipolar disorder and while I have been lucky to find medications that work for me and have low side effects, there are still long term risks like kidney and liver damage. Plus, I shouldn't have children while on these meds, so I would have to choose between being stable and the risk of birth defects. Not to mention how flat these meds can make you feel! I hope hope hope that the research pans out and I can rely less on medication.