00:00What they're trying to do, this is in addition to or instead of medications, is retrain the
00:07child into paying attention, completing tasks, controlling your impulses, that sort of thing,
00:14and doing it over and over again with the family to learn how to do it.
00:20And with depression, which is actually quite rare under the age of 10, but with depression
00:24it's about reframing your thinking, that the world is not as negative as it seems and here's
00:28some realistic thinking that could change that.
00:32What video gaming adds is an element where the child just keeps on doing it without really
00:39thinking too hard or being in trouble.
00:41So you would introduce characters, tasks which you've got to complete, such as paying attention.
00:48You might not realize that's what you're doing as a child, or controlling impulses or completing
00:52a task.
00:53Maybe you get to a certain level, you get points, then you go to the next level.
00:56And it makes sense.
00:58And any parent of a child, not any, but parents of ADHD children have commented that while
01:04they're not completing tasks at school or at home, they'll sit in front of a video game,
01:08an ordinary video game for hours on end because they're designed to be addictive.
01:13So this is essentially similar therapy to what a psychologist would give you with gaming
01:19on top.
01:20And what they showed by bringing together the available evidence is that for depression
01:24and ADHD, you do get modest improvements in the symptomatology of these conditions
01:31in children.
01:32So it does make a difference.
01:33In some children, it's a big difference.
01:35In some children, it'll be very little difference.
01:36But on average, it's a modest difference and no effect, interestingly, on anxiety.
01:41Why is that?
01:43We can't explain that.
01:44But one explanation could be that screens are thought to be part of the problem in anxiety
01:49disorders and adding a screen and having to compete against yourself and so on may
01:54well increase anxiety.
01:56So it may not be the natural mode to put video gaming on top to fix up anxiety disorders
02:02in children.
02:03Nonetheless, for children, and this is what it was designed to do, who are on waiting
02:07lists to see a psychologist, this could be a useful thing for a clinic to do is to offer
02:12the programs and then maybe one day you can find out which children are most likely to
02:18benefit a lot from it and which children are not likely to benefit, in which case those
02:23kids could be accelerated on the waiting list.
02:25So it's a useful addition in a world where it's hard to see how we can ever have enough
02:30professionals to look after these kids.
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