An entirely new and effective way forward for mental health.
Mental disorders are accompanied by thought disorders, with the most salient often being rumination — a cyclical and repetitive pattern of rigid thinking.
Prolonged depression and repetitive thought patterns result in a loss of neuronal volume — they literally reduce the size of our brains. Facilitating Thought ProgressionTM, or FTP, is focused on disrupting and breaking this pattern, and in doing so, alongside complementing treatments, helps alleviate symptoms of depression and anxiety.
FTP was developed by a team led by neuroscientist Prof. Moshe Bar and is the product of more than 20 years of research in the Cognitive Neuroscience Lab at Harvard Medical School and the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital.
FTP employs techniques like word association, speed of recognition, and others in order to break constricted thinking patterns and make thoughts travel further, more widely and more rapidly.
Think creatively.
Feel Better.
This process induces creativity while reactivating critical parts of the brain that improve mood. It’s also believed to help reconstruct the cortical infrastructure that has been diminished and rewired through the chronic ruminations and inhibited thought patterns associated with depression and anxiety.
Studies show that Hedonia’s Facilitating Thought ProgressionTM approach stimulates the same parts of the brain that frequently-prescribed drugs do, but without the cost and taxing side effects.
Old approaches to existing problems.
Current treatments for depression and anxiety include medication and talk therapy. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is the most popular approach and has been around for five decades. But because CBT requires a high level of engagement and time commitment it doesn’t suit everyone.
Prescription medications also help however they come with side effects, a perceived negative stigma by some and require patients to remember to take them on time. The reality is that current treatments alone may not be effective or accessible to everyone who needs relief.
A New Approach for the way we live today.
We realized that an incredibly efficient way to deliver FTP is through mobile games. It’s really quite revolutionary. Just about everyone enjoys regular game breaks throughout their day, so we harnessed this behavior to produce real results, improving short as well as long-term moods with just a few minutes’ play every day — consistency and regularity are key.
For the best results, users engage with Hedonia’s therapeutic games daily for 10-15 minutes. Each game focuses on a different element of FTP. When used adjunct to existing clinical therapy, it can support mental flexibility. The result is people who quite simply feel better in the long run.
Research behind Facilitating Thought ProgressionTM
If you would like to delve into the scientific research behind FTP, here is a sampling of the papers published by Prof. Bar and his clinical team.