Video games could one day boost mental health: McGill prof

Canada.com: Video games already provide entertainment and diversion, but they may soon boost self-esteem and improve mental health. Based on knowledge that many of our reactions to life's stresses happen in a split-second and often without our awareness, Mark Baldwin's team at McGill University in Montreal started wondering whether they could program people's brains to react differently. "All we did was say, 'OK, can we train it?' And once you ask the question, you kind of think, 'Why not?' the psychology professor says. "You can train anything else. You can train a golf swing, you can train arithmetic skills through practice and drills, so why shouldn't you be able to train some of these automatic thoughts about social experiences, about self and others, about relationships?"