A new game has been released, but you can only play it with a doctor’s note, apparently. Called EndeavorRx and developed by Akili Interactive, the video game has been tested within the FDA and approved as a prescription treatment for children suffering from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, more commonly known as ADHD.
Whether this speaks volumes about the state of the Food and Drug Administration as the United States government currently stands, or if this is actually a title that can change the excitement of children, is difficult to say.
Because you can only be prescribed the title. Even well-known piracy websites are struggling to find this as everyone is desperate to get their hands on whatever is apparently curing children that struggle to focus in tightly-controlled classrooms. If Akili Interactive has actually stumbled on a way to increase focus and attentiveness through a video game, they’re about to be a multi-billion dollar company as every esport team worth their salt will be attempting to find the Shangri-La of impeccable focus for crucial matches.
Even streamers could burn down the prescribed ’30-minute dose’ and perform wildly better for their fans. It might even be deemed as cheating, using the magical patterns and engagement that Akili Interactive has apparently stumbled upon.
Today, the Agency permitted the marketing of EndeavorRx, the first game-based digital therapeutic device to improve attention function in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
— FDA Medical Devices (@FDADeviceInfo) June 15, 2020
For many gamers, however, this reeks of baffling conclusions that many with ADHD have had to press through as the public figures you can simply unlearn the hyperactivity, much like you can unlearn depression by just not being sad.
It’s so easy.
Like participating in Scrabble to help cure athletes foot. It’s seemingly the newest fad that multiple outlets have released snippets on all roughly around the same time (CNN, NBC). A double-blind parallel-group study (the standard in the scientific community) funded by Akili Interactive ponder verbosely in a document that finds that there might be a use for EndeavorRx, although future research is needed.
First of all, here is a summary of the research findings using EndeavorRx provided by https://t.co/9Shn883irW.
The research looks promising and seems to have been conducted to a high standard (randomised double-blind parallel-group controlled trials are a big yes!). pic.twitter.com/kvOLADzhBC
— Platinum (@PlatinumParagon) June 16, 2020
You can read that exhaustive trip through grammar and notations here.
For many sufferers of ADHD, it’s a difficulty to focus on tasks that ultimately don’t release as much dopamine, or other incentives, to keep people focused on the task at hand. Playing video games is a natural ally for those suffering from ADHD, as it keeps the brain focused on wonderfully immersive worlds and consistently rewards players; the study did not focus on the effects of video games on those diagnosed with ADHD.
At the moment, it’s admittedly difficult to put much weight in the idea that a video game could somehow treat ADHD, or exponentially increase focus just by interacting with it. Eventually, as all things do, it’ll get leaked and we’ll sink our teeth into it in the hope of curing what ails us; until then, it’s another flavor of the week. And likely the first game that costs thousands of dollars if you don’t have a co-pay, or otherwise exist in America.
