Video games are the new Ritalin

by James Ransom-Wiley { Nov 3rd 2006 at 6:55PM }

Doctors are experimenting with a new Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder drug: video games. Using SMART BrainGames, a real brain training device, Dr. Margaret MacDonald is determined to show that ADHD sufferers can use video games to condition their brains to be more attentive; and do so without the aid of medications. But the treatment is pricey.

The SMART BrainGames device is listed at $595 (PlayStation 2 version; console and games not included) and must be calibrated by a specialist. $595?! That thing best have some Blu-ray!

[Via Game Politics]

Tags: ADD, ADHD, SMART BrainGames, SmartBraingames

Related From Joystiq

Margaritaville trademarked for video game use
6 days ago
Sega receives poorly timed online gambling license
25 days ago
New Army of Two: The 40th Day viral video has its priorities straight
28 days ago

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Lefty @ Nov 3rd 2006 7:07PM

sounds like a good idea. i used t be on ritalin when i was in grade school and basicaly i was drugged. i used to be so high there was no way i was getting out of my seat. by time i started high school i told my parents i was not taking it any more. I started to get addicted and had withdrawl when not on it. (i did not take it on the weekends on durring school days)

ritalin is a joke. i Graduated in the top of my class with out it and felt much better. I used to take my pill 2 times a day. for those 6-8 hrs at school i was so high. i'd just sit back in my seat all messed up. it didnlt help me learn any better as i wa sgetting good grades all ready just kept me quiet and in my seat.

the problem with our system is we teach all kids the same. I belive those with add or adhd would benefit from some outside the box type of teaching with more hands on instead of sit ina chair take notes and sit quietly. I felt i just had more enrgy than others and couldn;t sit still. But anything is better than being drugged. specially when you 8 and forced to be put in a narcotic.

thats one ex ritalin users opinion

Invader Alex @ Nov 3rd 2006 7:08PM

Then why do still have ADD... and still take my medication...
oh yeah, i don't have a ps2...
Curse you gamecube for your only "normal" people!

No, seriously, i have ADD and I love my gamecube...

otakucode @ Nov 3rd 2006 7:41PM

I diagnosed myself with ADHD in 6th or 7th grade, made my parents take me to the psychologist and get me Ritalin (this was several years before ADHD got really popular... I saw a 20/20 special on adult ADHD and recognized myself in it). The Ritalin was great, and I took it for several years. It enabled me to pay attention when I needed to, something I did not have the ability to normally do. I know loads of kids are diagnosed with it that don't have it, but back when I went on Ritalin they actually TESTED you for it. It took a couple months of tests before I got a prescription. Of the 15 markers for ADHD, I had 14. They will diagnose you as having it with 9. So anyhow, I took Ritalin until 11th grade and was able to get the grades I was supposed to (I was doing very poorly in elementary school because every day was "hand in your homework" "What homework?"), then decided to stop taking it because senior year doesn't matter and I didn't see the need for it any longer. It went just fine, and now I'm out in the real world where being able to juggle 10 things at once is an asset, not a hindrance.

School is not a model of the real world. Great performance in school does not translate into great performance in the real world because school has detached itself entirely from being relevant to reality. Why do we teach kids so much about dinosaurs? Who the hell needs to know those things? Why do we teach them that learning is painful and boring when it's actually one of the most enjoyable things one can do?

X Budd @ Nov 3rd 2006 8:34PM

Ahhh Article...too long..can't finish... Oh a new IM!

Yah I have ADD. 4 realz

Scott @ Nov 3rd 2006 9:57PM

To the first poster, you probably didn't have real ADD/ADHD, but just an overabundance of natural energy. Real ADHD/ADD Patients don't respond to stimulants the same way normal people do.

Lefty @ Nov 3rd 2006 10:30PM

scott

regardless our soceity is so quick to medicate. by time i reached high school more than 50 percent of the school was on some medication for add. its a freaking joke. drug the kids yeah well i will never give my child a narcotic. that was my point. i for one went thru the being medicated cause i have problems. did you?

so i can talk from first hand knowledge. Now i am sure there are kids who might need help and even medication but the way docs just give out ritalin and its other member drugs like its candy is upsetting. and anything that trys to help these kids and does not involve drugging them out of their minds is a good thing

slowerpig81 @ Nov 3rd 2006 10:44PM

I have ADD (well the doc said ADHD, but im not hyperactive). You're right. school is so detached from ther real world. I'm in 7th grade and the values that teachers teach (ya know, if ya write more ya get better...)are not true for some people. When i was in first grade, i had to do a stupid phonics book for reading. i didnt learn to read with phonics, so i didnt do it. it all ended up with me being kicked out (it was a private school). I was then diagnosed with ADHD and put on ritalin. i dont remember that much, but it helped, but i still dont get why all them admins that are like 60 yrs old think they know the best way to teach. Seriosly, in what way does WRITING more make you better? I can see that for reading, 'coz it teaches you stuff (like, it didnt come from your head), and you learn. But writing? Naw. And some methods of teaching just dont work for some people. "the writing process" 1) think of somthing to write. 2)Make a graphic organizer. WHY? IT DOSENT DO ANYTHING TO HELP ME. I CAN DO THAT IN MY HEAD. 3) Hand write a rough draft. ok, why do i have to hand write it? have these old geezers heard of a computer? ya know, its somthing that has this thing called a backspace key that delets what you want it to. lol. 4)Edit. 5) Rewrite your paper. why should I do that? it justs wastes time. its so dumb. Like the only classes i have that are actually efficient are math, b/c its numbers, latin, b/c the teacher is young and dosent like to waste time doing unecessary things and the classes that dont involve writing (like PE, jazz band, art). I HATE, no, DISPISE the ethic of doing just for the sake of doing. WTF? What is the freaking point?

ANYWAY... it toatally depends on the person. I will do almost anythng (even nothing) besisdes unecessary work. Thats why i was diagnosed. its not that i cant pay attention to ANYTHING, i just DONT do stuff that is unecessary.