Playing 'Tetris' reduces the strength, frequency and vividness of naturally occurring cravings.

Elaborated Intrusion Theory (EI) postulates that imagery is central to craving, therefore a visually based task should decrease craving and craving imagery. This study provides the first laboratory test of this hypothesis in naturally occurring, rather than artificially induced, cravings. Participants reported if they were experiencing a craving and rated the strength, vividness and intrusiveness of their craving. They then either played 'Tetris' or they waited for a computer program to load (they were told it would load, but it was designed not to). Before task completion, craving scores between conditions did not differ; after, however, participants who had played 'Tetris' had significantly lower craving and less vivid craving imagery. The findings support EI theory, showing that a visuospatial working memory load reduces naturally occurring cravings, and that Tetris might be a useful task for tackling cravings outside the laboratory. Methodologically, the findings show that craving can be studied in the laboratory without using craving induction procedures

Introducing Gamification for Advancing Current Mental Healthcare and Treatment Practices

Given the alarming rise in the mental health issues among individuals of all age groups, it somehow becomes imperative to find novel solutions to deal with the existing global mental health crisis. Since affective and cognitive processes largely define our behavioral goals and tendencies, gamification has garnered immense interest among the mental health research community as a potential methodology to help modify any maladaptive perception, cognition, and behavior. Applying gaming in a therapeutic environment, undoubtedly, comes with a diverse set of advantages, which ranges from automatic tapping into the internal psychological mechanisms to increasing motivation to change, among many others. Thus, the advances in gamification elements have provided a straight revelation about the future directions of assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of various mental health conditions. With a brief introduction to the existing application of gamification in primary healthcare sectors, the present chapter will, therefore, aim to extend the scope of gamification to improve mental health issues. An extensive review of literature in this field will further educate readers about the popular domains in mental health, which currently apply gamification app technologies. This chapter will also attempt to provide empirical instances to suggest how gamification can improve the non-compliance rate to therapies as well as motivation to induce behavioral changes. The primary focus of this chapter is to enlighten its readers on how gamification using mobile and computer apps can digitally enhance and aid the present-day mental health diagnosis and treatment practices. This advancement will hopefully allow mental health experts, therapists, and psychologists to move beyond traditional psychotherapeutic interventions and diagnostic methods to a better and futuristic approach to understanding and treating clinical disorders. Furthermore, future implications and challenges will also be discussed. © 2021, The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd