Mario saves people! Scientists confirm the benefits of Super Mario Odyssey in treating depression

By: Anton Kratiuk | 27.12.2023, 22:40

Medicine has not yet found a universal method of treatment for depressive disorders, which have become a real problem of mankind.

Millions of people suffer from this disease, doctors use various methods, which do not always have a positive effect on the patient. German researcher Moritz Bergmann and his colleagues made an unexpected discovery.

Here's What We Know

During the experiment, three groups of depressed patients were treated in three ways: with traditional pills and psychotherapy, with the use of a special computer programme CogPack and ... with game sessions in Super Mario Odyssey.

As it turned out, the popular action-platformer from Nintendo proved to be the most effective means of treating depression!

It was experimentally proven that after six weeks, the group who played Odyssey saw their depression scores almost halved, while in the other two groups this result was not as impressive.

Of course, we can't claim that Super Mario Odyssey is a universal cure for depression, but it's impossible to deny that computer games help people get through difficult life moments and normalise their mental state.

Source: Psypost