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Finnish Doctors Are Prescribing Video Games For ADHD
Daniel_Stuckey writes "Ville Tapio runs a private psychiatry center in Helsinki, and psychiatrists had told him they were reluctant in particular to hand out drugs for patients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). ADHD drugs are psychostimulants, they are frequently abused, and kids can be prescribed them young and kept on a regimen for years. Tapio had an idea to do it better. His alternative? Getting people with mental health concerns to play video games. They're special video games, of course — ones that can change how your brain works, with a technique loosely termed gameified neuroplasticity therapy."
It worked for ... SHINEY RING!!
*runs off*
Sorry boss, my doctor says I need to medicate every 2 hours while I'm awake.
As though there aren't a lot of people with mental health concerns playing videogames all day...
Must not be Pac-Man or Space Invaders they're playing if they're trying to fix an attention deficit.
Laughter is the Spackle of the Soul.
Are there any of these games available as an app or free download?
oldhack: "Security is a waste of money until shit hits the fan. 5 minutes later, it becomes waste of money again. "
How do you tell the difference between an introvert and an extrovert in Finland? A Finnish extrovert looks at your feet instead of his own when talking.
It's not just any video game, it's specific video games made specifically for this purpose.
The most interesting part of the article IMO, they are using EEG 'mind reading' controllers, so when your readings show up in a certain way, you progress in the game.
Also, the summary makes it sound like they are prescribing this to everyone who comes along, when actually they are still doing preliminary studies. The preliminary studies seem to show good results, so they will probably continue deeper investigations into the topic.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
The OFF-TOPIC / FLAMEBAIT moderators took this case, it's their jurisdiction.
Laughter is the Spackle of the Soul.
But rather a diagnosis. I'm a 27 year old Finn and despite many visits to several doctors, got my ADHD diagnosis just last month. Before that they had just said I was depressed. Yes, since I was a small child.
After the diagnosis. my psychiatrist prescribed me medication straight away. He didn't even ask me for my opinion. And this is public healthcare we are talking about. They go apeshit if you try to get sleeping pills let alone medicine that are considered drugs like Concerta.
Also I call BS on frequent abuse of medicine like Concerta in Finland. It's so expensive and pharmacies make sure that you don't buy more any sooner than you are supposed to have used up all of your medication. It's easier and cheaper to just buy something off the street.
nothing improves your concentration like an hour playing tetris. I can still hear the song in my head. for best results, play it on an original game boy.
After the diagnosis. my psychiatrist prescribed me medication straight away. He didn't even ask me for my opinion. And this is public healthcare we are talking about. They go apeshit if you try to get sleeping pills let alone medicine that are considered drugs like Concerta.
Question about your doctor, or rather, the pens he has in his office: they don't happen to have Janssen Pharmaceuticals logos on them do they?
In my nation, America, it's not uncommon for physicians to happily prescribe whatever the drug rep he's cheating on his wife with tells him to; I wonder if Finland is similar in any way.
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
Here in the US, you just say "I have a child..." and the doctor hands out a script for Adderall.
After reading TFA, I can say it's nice to see a national healthcare system that actually takes ADD and ADHD seriously. Here in the USA, it seems (to me) that there's a lot of "misdiagnosis" of the malady, as if American physicians are more concerned about paychecks and drug rep kickbacks than actually treating the illness.
Not sure if it's still as much an issue today as it was 5-10 years ago, but there was a time when US doctors prescribed Ritalin and other psychotropic drugs to any and every half-assed unruly child, rather than doing any medical or science-based testing to determine if they were indeed ADHD sufferers.
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
Studies have found that kids with ADHD are much more likely to become addicted to video games. Does this count as an addiction to prescription medicine? Hmm....
If someone claims alcoholism can be solved with a regimen of vodka, and they have evidence you can't prove wrong, you'd be dumb to insist it couldn't possibly be true just because it sounds incredible.
Skepticism is fine, and ideally the study would already be published, but lets not reject it out of hand just because it sounds counterintuitive.
As another Finn I can add that it would be pointless as soon as there's a generic alternative. The public health care system mandates that the pharmacies inform you if the same drug that has been prescribed exists as a generic alternative and if you want to change to it because it's cheaper. Usually people do since the subsidy you get is much less if you want a more expensive option, if there's no difference from a medical POV. This is the case with normal prescriptions. I myself have had a chronic condition (epilepsy) for 15 years (a rare and difficult form that 1 in 100 epileptics have) and I get the "original" drug all the time since with any chronic condition the drug expenses are limited to 3 € each time you buy them (regardless of the amount but the max is three months needs). And no matter what drugs you buy, as long as they have been prescribed by a doctor, there's a limit on how high your annual expenses can be (if you have more than 550 € in annual drug expenses, the system pays the rest). Thus I'm not so sure pharmaceutical companies would benefit from influencing doctors to prescribe their drugs unless they're so new that the patents are still valid and generics don't exist.
That's like prescribing vodka to an alcoholic.
It gets worse!
We also give money and healthcare to poor people!
That's like prescribing vodka to an alcoholic.
A common therapy for ADHD is to prescribe stimulants, which cause people with ADHD to calm down and stay focused. So there is some precedent for contrarian remedies.
As somebody with mild ADHD and who just happens to be a gamer I was exited by the headline. That is until I saw that these games aren't really games, at least not the kind any self-respecting gamer would choose. Bummer dude.
It has always amazed me how people who are diagnosed with ADHD manage to sit and play video games for hours on end. Yet for some reason, activities like listening to someone speak or learning a new subject seem like impossible tasks for them. This approach seems to make sense since it takes one of the few tasks these people seem to be able to focus on and uses it to rewire their brains to allow them to concentrate better on everyday activities.
Actually it sounds like a great idea.
Actually, bad chronic alcoholism _has_ to be cured by alcohol, to some degree. You can't go cold turkey, you have to slowly come off. Therefore treatment of an alcoholic always involves more alcohol.
In Colorado everything now is possible. Natural medication and video games...Should have them sharp as a tack by noon.
*Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
This has been going on for almost 20 years now. I had ADD as a kid and when I was 11 my parents sent me to a biofeedback clinic where I would sit in a dentist chair and concentrate on a pac-man. If my brain waves were in the ideal range the pac man would move through the maze and I would gain points. The speed at which he moved accelerated so the longer I was able to 'focus' the faster he would go through the maze and I'd get a higher score.
I'm sure the technology must be much more precise these days and the games have probably gotten a lot more interesting to look at but they all essentially are based on the same principle.
The problem is that most kids that age don't care about wanting to learn how to focus better. They just have fun being who they are naturally. These kinds of programs work really well for adults and younger people with a great deal of motivation to change / practice their 'focusing' ability but as an 11 year old, I got really bored doing this and eventually I started falling asleep in the chair half way through every session. Program was a wasted on me but I applaud my parents for wanting to try to help me without medication.
The Blade Itself
I'm unclear on the relationship you have in mind. In this case, the patient has difficulty staying still and focusing, so the doctor is prescribing an activity which will require him to stay still and focus. Even without using specially designed games, video games tend to engage the player's attention, and endeavor to hold it. It makes sense to me that this could teach habits that improve concentration, and extended attention span.
Learning about brewing beer, by brewing beer.
You know this actually happens in hospitals. People who are long term alcoholics are often prescribed medical whiskey to keep them from possibly dying from the shock of detox.
who prays for Satan? Who in 18 centuries has had the humanity to pray for the 1 sinner that needed it most? ~Mark Twain
It's like exercise for your brain, and a great waste of money! http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/elements/2013/04/brain-games-are-bogus.html?mobify=0
Yep, this really does demonstrate what to expect from socialized medicine....mainstream doctors using bullshit as medicine. Is working memory training effective? A meta-analytic review. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22612437
People who are long term alcoholics are often prescribed medical whiskey
Does medical whiskey taste as bad as hospital food?
Ezekiel 23:20
I would think in the beginning you will only be able to do this in the Doctor's office and then on top of that how many times and a week and how often? It would be nice to be able to take the device home and upload results to your Doctor to review and then in return download new games/settings recommended from your Doctor. While I am hopeful, we won't see this in the US for a very long time.