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Common PC Video Games Used To Treat Phobias

Posted by michael on from the fear-of-railguns dept.

NoData writes "Treating phobias with exposure therapy--gradually putting patients in fear-inducing situations, is a well-established method, even using virtual means, like VR simulators. However, now CNN is reporting on research that shows off-the-shelf PC video games can effectively treat phobias as well. Games like "Half-Life" were used to treat arachnophobia, and "Unreal Tournament" to treat acrophobia and claustrophobia."

8 of 184 comments (clear)

  1. Curing?! by DrEldarion · · Score: 4, Funny

    What are they talking about? Half-life GAVE me arachnophobia. Now whenever I go through a dark narrow space, I start imagining huge spiders jumping up at me and gnawing at my head.

    -- Dr. Eldarion --

  2. The cure by HBI · · Score: 3, Funny

    I find UT is the cure for my frequent attacks of workophobia. An application at lunch and at quitting time seems to correct the condition.

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    HBI's Law: Frequency of calling others Nazis is directly correlated with the likelihood of the accuser being Communist.
  3. Duh! by neostorm · · Score: 4, Funny

    Japanese Dating Sims have been helping adolescent men combat their fear of approaching the opposite sex for years now!

    1. Re:Duh! by Lord_Dweomer · · Score: 4, Insightful
      While your comment was obviously a joke, I wonder if there will one day be software that could do just that. Not every guy can go out to the mall and approach 10 girls to build his confidence. A virtual reality dating sim might be able to help him do just that. And before someone makes a crack about my comment, realize that it is increasingly common in this day and age for boys to not feel confident enough to approach girls, so this is a real problem that needs some solutions.

      --
      Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
  4. Sounds good... by miketang16 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I use Counter-Strike to treat my anger management issues. =D People complain that video games increase violent tendencies... bs... blowing up people's head is just what I need to relax after a hard day...

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    "In times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act."
    -- George Orwell
  5. What I wanna know is by El · · Score: 3, Funny

    what phobia does Tomb Raider treat, and why do so many geeks suffer from it?

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    "Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney

  6. It works! by RecoveredMarketroid · · Score: 4, Funny

    Grand Theft Auto cured me of my phobia of going to prison for running over pedestrians...

  7. Worked for me. by Mr.+Flibble · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Ok, this is a kind of a scary admission - especially for slashdot... Anyhow, here goes.

    When I was about 6, my Dad got a pirated copy of Aliens (video stores did not exist at that time) and he sat down to watch it. I wanted to watch it with him (mistake!!!)

    I had nightmares of the Alien, for years, and I always found it creepy - I hated even looking at H. R. Gigers Alien's. More recently, I picked up a copy of Alien vs. Predator - and I played through the entire game. It was difficult at first, but after getting used to killing Aliens (and being killed...) My fear went away. Irrational fear? Yes, but it was a fear I had none the less.

    On a separate note, my friend saw The Exorcist when he was about 6 too, and he had nightmares about it. Recently he got the DVD extended version, and forced himself to watch it about 20 times. The movie no longer bothers him either.

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    Try to hack my 31337 firewall!