Exclusive | New ‘video game’ technology can treat depression without drugs or talk therapy

A futuristic fix for depression is here — and it doesn’t involve prescription drugs or a shrink. 

The first-of-its-kind treatment from GrayMatters Health uses something called “self-neuromodulation” to help patients rewire their own brain patterns to ease their symptoms.

“This is a completely new paradigm of treatment for depression, and it actually works,” Dr. Aaron Tendler, a board-certified psychiatrist and chief medical officer of GMH, told The Post. 

The new protocol, called Prism for Depression, officially launches today and will be rolled out at participating clinics in the coming months. A version aimed at helping PTSD patients hit the market last year.

Hope in a “dark, dark, dark” place

For Vivian Jackson, PRISM for PTSD was nothing short of life-changing.

The 73-year-old had spent decades weighed down by trauma stemming from an abusive mother, brutal school bullying and a bitter divorce that left her a young, single parent.

Her already fragile mental health took a devastating hit after complications from surgery left her unable to swallow and struggling to speak. For 11 days, Jackson was confined to a recovery ward, overwhelmed by her racing, intrusive thoughts.

“That was when I wanted to jump out the window. It was dark, dark, dark,” Jackson said. “The surgery just brought everything back.”

The emotional crash that followed was relentless.

“Nothing made me happy,” she recalled. “I stopped singing, I stopped laughing. I just shut down.”

A nurse eventually encouraged her to seek help, leading to a PTSD diagnosis — something that surprised Jackson.

“I thought only people in the military that went overseas had it,” she said. 

In reality, an estimated 6.8% of American adults — about 13 million people — experience PTSD at some point in their lives, according to the National Center for PTSD.

Jackson had spent years on antidepressants with no relief. But when her doctor suggested PRISM for PTSD, she was instantly intrigued — and finally, hopeful.

The “video game” approach to happiness

The treatment is relatively straightforward: 15 sessions, each lasting 45 minutes, over eight weeks. But before diving into how it works, you’ve got to understand one key player — the amygdala.

This tiny brain region controls your fight-or-flight response. In people with PTSD, it’s often stuck in high alert mode — even when there’s no danger — causing symptoms like jumpiness, emotional outbursts and intense anxiety.

PRISM uses an EEG headset to track activity in the amygdala, providing real-time feedback on brainwaves linked to PTSD symptoms. Patients then learn how to calm their brain activity using a personalized mental technique.

Before each session, patients pick what GMH calls a “mental strategy” — a calming memory, mantra or song that helps them feel safe.

They’re then fitted with an EEG headset and shown animated avatars in a busy waiting room.

As the patient concentrates on their chosen strategy, the headset tracks activity in the brain’s fear center. When stress levels drop, the avatars slowly sit and settle — reflecting the patient’s progress in real time.

“It’s essentially a video game,” Tendler said. “If they are successful, the avatars sit down, and if they lose focus, they stand up.”

Bring back laughter

At first, Jackson struggled. She cycled through five different strategies in the first few sessions, unable to quiet her mind long enough to settle the avatars.

Then came the breakthrough.

“You’ve got to make your feelings and your emotions work with your mind,” Jackson recalled her doctor telling her. “You’re not controlling the situation. You have to feel it.”

By her fifth session, she zeroed in on one “mental strategy” — a memory of a California beach, her “favorite place in the world.”

“The more I did it, the more I could feel the sand and the sun, the ocean and the water, the smell of salt,” Jackson said. “Suddenly, there’s no noise, there’s no confusion. You’re just at peace.” 

When she looked up, the avatars on screen had finally settled.

Later that night at home, something had changed.  “I was singing and laughing again,” Jackson said. 

At first, the strategy — like Jackson’s beach memory — serves as a tool. But over time, patients learn to regulate their emotions without it, Tendler explained.

“There’s an evolution that happens,” he said. “Because you can process things more appropriately, you’re able to get more manageable emotions.”

Two thirds of PTSD patients saw serious results

Months later, Jackson is still repeating the benefits of PRISM. “It gives you a whole new perspective on what life really is,” she said.

“Would I say that I’m not ever going to have episodes again? No. I will, but I know what my triggers are and how to work with them now,” Jackson continued. “I can sit and talk about my mom and not feel any of the things that I had before.”

And she’s not alone.

In a clinical study, 67% of patients showed significant symptom and sleep improvements three months after finishing the program. A third went into full remission.

The most common side effects were mild — headaches, dizziness and fatigue — and all faded on their own after each session.

“You’re doing it for yourself,” Tendler said. “You can’t get any safer than this.”

An alternative to talk therapy

Traditional talk therapy can rip open old wounds by pushing PTSD patients to relive trauma they’re not ready to face. Tendler said PRISM cuts out the storytelling — offering a calmer, more controlled path to healing.

“One third of therapists don’t refer their patients to exposure therapy because they don’t want to cause them pain, and 38% of patients don’t complete exposure therapy for PTSD,” he said. 

“I’m not saying it isn’t good therapy … it’s just not a practical therapy for an enormous amount of people,” Tendler added.

Prism for PTSD is currently offered at more than 20 clinics across the country.

A new path forward for depression

After the success of PRISM for PTSD, GMH turned its focus to major depression, a condition that impacts more than 21 million adults in the US each year.

Tendler said one of the toughest symptoms of depression to treat is anhedonia, or the inability to experience pleasure from things that once brought joy.

“There’s an enormous amount of evidence that shows the basis for this is an underlying decrease in the amount of activity in what we call the reward system in the brain,” he said. 

The new PRISM for Depression targets this exact issue, aiming to boost activity in the brain’s reward center and spark the return of pleasure and motivation.

Like the PTSD version, patients wear a soft EEG headset in a quiet room. But instead of a bustling waiting room, they watch an animated dog trying to get the attention of a human.

The patient is then instructed to recall a time they felt pleasure, excitement or motivation — whether it was social, sexual, work-related or even tied to food. 

The EEG system tracks activity in the brain’s reward center. If patients maintain a heightened sense of joy for 25 seconds or longer, the animated human gets up and takes the dog for a walk.

“What this is doing is teaching the person to develop and hold the emotion of reward,” Tendler explained. 

The results are in: 78% success rate

GMH tested the new version in a small clinical trial with 44 participants who had been moderately depressed with anhedonia for at least six years.

“Amazingly enough, it was very successful,” Tendler said. 

After just 10 treatments, 78% of participants showed a significant reduction in depressive symptoms and anhedonia, with 32% reaching remission — meaning they no longer met the criteria for depression.

GMH is planning a follow-up study with more participants and double the number of treatment sessions.

“I assume we’ll see an even better effect,” Tendler said. 

While Tendler is optimistic about the new treatment, he notes it isn’t for everyone.

“It wouldn’t be good for someone who is so profoundly depressed that they can’t even get out of bed,” he said. “You have to be able to come into the office.” 

Tendler said the approach is ideal for people with mild to moderate depression. “It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been depressed or what treatments you’ve tried, but you need to have some level of motivation,” he added.

Unlike the PRISM for PTSD protocol, the depression version is still awaiting FDA clearance. However, it’s considered a low-risk medical device, allowing it to be marketed and used in psychiatry clinics.

GMH told The Post that participating clinics that offer Prism will have the depression protocol in the next few months, three of which are located in the greater NYC area.