The team conducted a randomised controlled trial with 99 healthcare workers split into three groups:
- The first group used the mental rotation intervention the team had developed
- The second group received a placebo intervention where they listened to Mozart music and podcasts
- The third group had access to standard care
“One remarkable thing about this trial is that participants in the placebo arm of the study, who were listening to Mozart, were certain that that was the real intervention – that they were getting the active treatment. This suggested to Emily and I that our findings were not the result of a placebo effect,” said Summers.
The results showed that participants in the mental rotation group had 10 times fewer intrusive memories than those in the control and Mozart groups four weeks after starting the intervention. Furthermore after six months of the trial 70% of people in the mental rotation group were completely free of intrusive memories.
“These results are incredibly impressive for such a simple-to-use intervention,” said Tayla McCloud, Digital Mental Health Innovation Lead at Wellcome. “It’s rare to see something so accessible, scalable and adaptable across contexts. It doesn’t require patients to put their trauma into words, and even transcends language barriers.”
“I had no idea it would work so quickly. At first, I thought I was doing something wrong – when I tried to visualise the memory so I could do the intervention, it wasn’t coming. It was so soon after I’d started the trial, it didn’t occur to me that it was the treatment working, until I told the study team,” said Irene. “Now, when I think about those memories, I can remember what happened, but all the stress and the sadness that used to come with them have gone.”
