Putting the Zone Out Effect to Good Use

Hypnosis has often been suggested as an alternative to drugs for treating pain and anxiety. Parents often complain about how kids zone out when watching tv or playing video games. So why not use this usually disconcerting effect to medical benefit? The article talks mainly about using video games to distract children during medical procedures, but I think they could be useful for adults, too. It's not like kids are the only ones who play video games these days. And it's not like kids are the only ones who can get so enthralled by video games that they get distracted by basic physical cues such as hunger, thirst, and tiredness (and pain?).

Imagine going in for surgery and, instead of waiting nervously in the waiting room and then waiting nervously in the room where they prep you for surgery, you play video games. To me, the video game doesn't even have to have a specific theme. It can be Bejeweled or Mario Brothers for all I care. Just so long as it gets your mind off any anxiety you may feel leading up to the procedure.

Afterward, the video games can distract you from the pain. As I recall, the thing that excited me most about getting my tonsils out when I was little wasn't the prospect of getting all the ice cream I could eat (and I ended up really not wanting ice cream) but the fact that my friend was lending me his Nintendo while I recovered. Hmmm, age 8 and I was already working on electronic medical devices. :)