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You might have heard that video games are bad for you.
你可能听说过电子游戏对人不好，
They'll rot your brain, or make you violent, or antisocial, or something.
它们会腐蚀人的大脑，或使人变得暴力，反社会，或其他不好的事。
And parents often fret about what their child or teen's gaming hours are doing to their brains.
父母经常担心，孩子或青少年打游戏会对大脑产生影响。
But what if we're thinking about video games all wrong? Well, that's what some psychologists think.
但是，如果我们对电子游戏的想法都错了呢？嗯，这是一些心理学家的想法。
Counterintuitive as it might seem, they're studying how we can use video games to improve mental health,
看似不可思议，他们正在研究如何使用电子游戏来改善心理健康，
especially in kids and teens.
尤其是改善儿童和青少年的心理健康。
Studies estimate that only about a third of American teenagers with mental health disorders actually receive treatment.
研究估计，实际上只有三分之一患有精神疾病的美国青少年接受了治疗。
That may be because their parents are worried about the cost of therapy – which isn't always covered by insurance –
这可能是因为他们的父母担心治疗费用——这并总是在保险的范围之内——
or because the kids are worried about the social stigma that comes with “seeing a shrink”.
或者是因为孩子们担心“看心理医生”会带来社会耻辱感。
So some psychologists think there's another way to help them out—give them video games.
所以一些心理学家认为，有另一种方法可以帮助他们走出困境——电子游戏。
Already, they're a nearly ubiquitous feature of the American childhood—
美国人在幼年时代就已经普遍打电子游戏——
surveys estimate that over 90% of kids between the ages of 2 and 17 in the US play video games.
调查估计，在美国，年龄在2~17岁之间的孩子中，超过90%的人玩电子游戏。
So they're socially acceptable, and relatively inexpensive.
电子游戏在社会上是认可的，而且价格相对便宜。
Plus, since kids can play in their own homes, they can maintain their privacy. And video games are fun.
另外，因为孩子们可以在自己家里玩，他们可以保留自己的隐私，而且电子游戏也很有趣。
You might not think it's important that therapy be fun,
你可能认为治疗的趣味性不是很重要，
but enjoyment of an activity does increase your motivation to keep doing it.
但是享受确实会增加继续治疗的动力。
And all that means there's huge potential for certain video games to help mental health—
所有这些都意味着某些电子游戏在改善心理健康方面具有巨大的潜力——
but only if they actually work.
但前提是这些电子游戏真的有效。
And they just might. Though the evidence is very preliminary,
这只是可能，尽管证据还不是很充分，
several trials have shown promise in using specially designed video games to treat mild to moderate mental illness.
一些试验表明，使用专门设计的电子游戏有望治疗轻度至中度精神疾病。
Many of these therapeutic games are based on already existing treatments like cognitive behavioral therapy –
许多治疗游戏都是基于现有的治疗方法，如认知行为疗法——
a type of good ole talk therapy which aims to help people identify and alter problematic thoughts or behaviors.
一种好的谈话疗法，旨在帮助人们识别和改变有问题的想法或行为。
For example, researchers in New Zealand created a game called SPARX for treating depression.
例如，新西兰的研究人员创造了一种名为SPARX的治疗抑郁症的游戏。
Through playing, kids ultimately learn strategies for relaxation, social interaction,
孩子们通过打电子游戏最终学会了放松和社交策略，
and dealing with difficult emotions and situations much like they would in therapy.
孩子对困难情绪和情况的处理很像是在治疗。
But that's all disguised as an interactive fantasy video game.
但这一切都伪装成互动幻想电子游戏。
When the game's designers compared it with regular counseling in a trial of nearly 200 kids,
当游戏设计师将其与近200名儿童试验的定期咨询进行比较时，
both groups showed about equal improvement,
两组的改善效果一样，
indicating that SPARX might be just as effective as therapy.
这表明SPARX可能和治疗一样有效。
And similar results were found by researchers working with a game called MindLight.
研究《心灵之光》游戏的人员也发现了类似的结果。
In MindLight, children navigate through a scary mansion, learning techniques to control their anxiety along the way.
在《心灵之光》中，孩子们穿行在一栋可怕的大厦中，学习如何在途中控制焦虑。
And in a preliminary trial of 174 kids with anxiety,
在对174名焦虑儿童的初步试验中，
six weekly sessions of gameplay worked about as well as eight weekly sessions of cognitive behavioral therapy.
每周进行六次的游戏练习和每周八次的认知行为疗法的效果一样。
Similar trials have been conducted on games designed for adults with equally positive results.
在专为成年人设计的游戏中也进行了类似的试验，结果同样积极有效。
Though such findings still need to be replicated by other researchers – ones who weren't involved in making the games –
游戏得到广泛接受之前，仍需其他研究人员——那些没有参与制作游戏的人——
before these games could become widely-accepted therapies, the results are encouraging.
的努力，其结果是令人鼓舞的。
Scientists are now designing games to try and treat everything from addiction to eating disorders to ADHD.
科学家们正在通过设计游戏尝试治疗各种疾病——从上瘾到饮食紊乱再到多动症。
There are even some in the works to help manage psychosis.
甚至有一些正在努力帮助控制精神病。
Other researchers are hoping to create social support networks in virtual reality,
其他研究人员希望在虚拟现实中创建社会支持网络，
or integrate video games into therapeutic programs.
或者将电子游戏整合到治疗方案中。
And they might not have to create all these games from scratch.
他们可能不必从头开始创建所有这些游戏。
Researchers have found playing certain simple distracting games like Peggle and Bejeweled can improve mood,
研究人员发现玩一些简单分散注意力的游戏，比如跳跳球和宝石方块可以改善心情，
so they could help manage stress or even depression.
所以这些游戏可以帮助控制压力甚至抑郁。
And the right game could maybe even help treat illnesses like PTSD.
正确的游戏甚至可能有助于治疗PTSD（创伤后应激障碍）等疾病。
In one 2010 study, researchers had 60 healthy participants watch a traumatic film and then play Tetris,
2010年的一项研究中，研究人员让60名健康人员观看创伤性电影，然后玩俄罗斯方块，
a word game, or no game at all. In the following week,
文字游戏，或者不玩游戏。在接下来的一周内，
subjects had fewer flashbacks concerning the film if they had played Tetris compared to the other two groups.
与其他两组相比，玩俄罗斯方块的受试者对这部电影的重现较少。
The researchers think that may be because visual games like Tetris somehow interfere with the storage of the traumatic images as long-lasting memories.
研究人员认为，这可能是因为像俄罗斯方块这样的视觉游戏在某种程度上干扰了创伤性图像作为长期记忆的存储。
Though, this has yet to be confirmed with people who've experienced actual traumatic events.
不过，这还有待于那些经历过实际创伤事件人的证实。
And the word game actually made flashbacks worse in one experiment— so the choice of game seems to be really important.
在一次实验中，文字游戏让重现变得更糟，所以游戏的选择似乎真的很重要。
None of these studies invalidate the research that has found some games, especially violent ones,
这些研究都没有让某些游戏特别是暴力游戏
can possibly increase stress and aggression in some people.
增加人的压力和攻击性的研究无效
So if doctors are looking into using video games therapeutically, they'll need to be careful about which they use and how they use them.
因此，如果医生正在研究电子游戏的治疗方法，他们需要注意使用的是哪一种游戏以及如何使用。
Not to mention though, they'll have to consider the effects of different games might have on different types of people,
且不说，他们会考虑不同游戏对不同人的影响，
because even games designed to be therapeutic probably won't work the same for everyone.
因为即使是设计用来治疗的游戏也不一定对每个人都有效。
But, the results coming from these preliminary studies using video games in a more clinical way are exciting,
但是，以更临床的方式使用电子游戏的初步研究结果令人兴奋，
especially to psychologists working with younger patients.
特别是对与年轻病人一起工作的心理学家而言。
And that's because mental health disorders seem to be a growing problem among children and teens in America,
这是因为，心理健康障碍问题在美国儿童和青少年中似乎日益严重，
with rates of things like depressive episodes and anxiety jumping 20 to 30 percent in recent decades.
最近几十年，抑郁症和焦虑症的发病率上升了20%~30%。
While traditional therapies can be highly effective, they often don't reach the kids who need them the most.
虽然传统的治疗方法非常有效，但他们往往无法帮助那些最需要的孩子。
So even though there's a lot of work to be done, there's hope that video games will one day make therapy more widely accessible,
因此，尽管要做的工作还有很多，但希望有一天电子游戏治疗更加普及，
leading to happier healthier kids.
让孩子更快乐，更健康。
And in the meantime, maybe you can tell the haters that rag on you for your gaming to chill out a bit.
与此同时，也许你可以告诉那些指责你打电子游戏的人，让他们放松一点。
Thanks for watching this episode of SciShow Psych!
感谢收看本期的心理科学秀!
If you liked learning about how video games might be used for good,
如果你想知道电子游戏如何对人类有益，
you might like our episode on whether violent video games actually make you more aggressive.
你可能会喜欢视频节目——暴力视频游戏是否真的会让你变得更有攻击性。
