What is Tetris Syndrome? Based on the name, it can be assumed that this is a kind of condition that is characteristic only of gambling addicts. However, this is not at all the case. Almost any person can face a similar phenomenon during their life.
Syndrome - effect, phenomenon - Tetris is not a pathological disorder. As a rule, this is a short-term condition that goes away on its own. However, in some cases, if the circumstances are available and in view of the individual characteristics of a person, Tetris syndrome can become a symptom or one of the causes of any borderline violation. So, for example, psychotherapists are of the opinion that this condition may underlie painful perfectionism or pathological workaholism.
For the first time, the writer Neil Gaiman spoke about this phenomenon. In 1987, in one of his works, he described a state very close to the Tetris effect. In scientific circles, they started talking about this syndrome in the 1990s of the 20th century.
Tetris Syndrome: what is it
This name was assigned to the phenomenon for the reason that initially psychological research concerned a group of people who actively and often played Tetris, as well as other computer games. According to the results, it was revealed that if a person immersed himself too much in the game atmosphere, he experienced a temporary change in the perception and feeling of the surrounding reality.
Later, it was proved that it is reasonable to talk about Tetris syndrome not only in the context of fans of the game: this condition can spread to people who have been doing something for a long time, completely concentrating on it. And after that they cannot dismiss thoughts related to business / hobby, sensations and repetition of actions.
Symptoms and examples
How can Tetris syndrome manifest in everyday life?
- Through thoughts and words.
- Through dreams.
- Through the actions and deeds of a person.
- Directly through sensations, perception of the surrounding reality and oneself.
Since this phenomenon can be found in completely different people, it has no specific and unchanging symptoms. The main point: repetition of any actions related to a long-term situation or work / hobby, thoughts completely focused on an important matter, dreams in which the plots of the game appear or mathematical formulas emerge, if a person is seriously engaged in science, the emergence of any atypical physical sensations.
The easiest way to understand how the Tetris effect works is based on examples:
- people who often play Tetris can see colored blocks in dreams, and in life they try to put things so that they lie close to each other;
- if a person rides a train for a long time, then, after being in a calm atmosphere, he may feel that the bed or sofa under him seems to be moving, or he may hear the sound of wheels; a typical manifestation of Tetris syndrome is the feeling that the ground is swaying after being on board for a long time;
- when a person watches a large number of bright and very dynamic films at once, completely immersing himself in the process, later his dreams can become "ragged", too intense, fast;
- psychologists are of the opinion that Mendeleev, creating his table of chemical elements, faced directly with the Tetris syndrome;
- after a long stay in a room with unnatural light, a person may then find himself in a situation where he incorrectly perceives colors in the world around him; so, for example, if you had to be in a room with red lighting for a long time, then for some time the space around will be perceived in pink-orange tones;
- people who enthusiastically play various modern computer and online games can transfer some actions into reality; so, for example, there may be a desire to "replay" the level or "save" in real time.
Temporary distorted perceptions and altered sensations can occur in truck drivers, students and scientists, musicians and artists, office workers, and so on.
