Virtual reality in telepsychiatry is a new horizon for immersive mental health therapy (original) (raw)
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BMC Psychiatry
Background Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) is characterized by an intense fear of negative judgement by others. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is recommended for treatment, but a substantial part of individuals with SAD either do not seek treatment or drop-out. CBT with Virtual Reality (VR)-based exposure has several advantages compared to traditional exposure methods, mainly due to increased control of situational elements. The aim of the current study is to develop a CBT program containing VR-based exposure. The intervention is targeted to adult patients suffering from SAD and treatment effect will be assessed by changes in SAD symptoms. Methods This article describes the study protocol of a Randomized Controlled Trial with three arms: 1) CBT with VR exposure based on 360° videos 2) CBT with in vivo exposure and 3) VR relaxation therapy. There will be 30 participants in each arm with a crossover at the end of the treatment period during which the participants in the third group ...
Virtual reality (VR) for psychotherapy: From the physical to the social environment
Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 1996
To date, all therapeutic applications of VR have involved the simulation of physical (as opposed to social) aspects of the environment. Researchers have produced simulations of heights, different kinds of spaces, and the experience of flying (airplanes, views from the plane, etc.), with the goal of improving the delivery of exposure and desensitization for the treatment of phobias. VR scientists are currently at work on the simulation of the social environment through the use of virtual people (VPs). We suggest that when VR gains the ability to simulate human social interaction, it can be used to assist in the treatment of a wider variety of conditions. In this article, we first review the existing applications of VR to therapy. We then discuss a variety of ways that VP's could be used in therapy.
Trials
Background Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a highly prevalent mental disorder associated with enormous stress and suffering. Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is the first-line treatment for SAD, yet its accessibility is often constrained with long waiting times. Digital therapeutic applications, including psychoeducation and self-guided behavioral experiments in virtual reality (VR), could facilitate access and reduce waiting times. The study aims to investigate if ultra-short-time therapy involving self-guided digital therapeutic applications with VR components can reduce the severity of SAD. Methods Forty SAD patients will participate in this randomized controlled trial. Half will get access to a self-guided, digital therapeutic application with exposure-based behavioral experiments in VR, while the other half will receive a control treatment. Both treatments include four therapeutic appointments. Changes in the severity of SAD will be measured after each appointment and on a 6-w...
Virtual reality in mental health
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 2007
Background Several virtual reality (VR) applications for the understanding, assessment and treatment of mental health problems have been developed in the last 10 years. The purpose of this review is to outline the current state of virtual reality research in the treatment of mental health problems. Methods PubMed and PsycINFO were searched for all articles containing the words ''virtual reality''. In addition a manual search of the references contained in the papers resulting from this search was conducted and relevant periodicals were searched. Studies reporting the results of treatment utilizing VR in the mental health field and involving at least one patient were identified. Results More than 50 studies using VR were identified, the majority of which were case studies. Seventeen employed a between groups design: 4 involved patients with fear of flying; 3 involved patients with fear of heights; 3 involved patients with social phobia/public speaking anxiety; 2 involved people with spider phobia; 2 involved patients with agoraphobia; 2 involved patients with body image disturbance and 1 involved obese patients. There are both advantages in terms of delivery and disadvantages in terms of side effects to using VR. Although virtual reality based therapy appears to be superior to no treatment the effectiveness of VR therapy over traditional therapeutic approaches is not supported by the research currently available. Conclusions There is a lack of good quality research on the effectiveness of VR therapy. Before clinicians will be able to make effective use of this emerging technology greater emphasis must be placed on controlled trials with clinically identified populations.
Virtual Reality Revolution: Strategies for treating mental and emotional disorders
2022 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics (SMC), 2022
Virtual Reality (VR) is increasingly gaining recognition in healthcare, especially as a treatment tool for psychological interventions. This paper reviews current advances in immersive VR-based therapies to explore different strategies designed to treat mental and emotional disorders with Virtual Reality Therapy (VRT). The study contributes to the VR community by exemplifying the application of various psychological treatment strategies in designing VR therapies, such as Cognitive-Behavioral, Distraction, Perspective-Taking and Exposure. For higher adoption of VR by clinicians, greater quality control of these strategies and well-defined user experiences are required, followed by clinical validation.
Virtual reality for psychotherapy: Current reality and future possibilities
Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 2003
After a burst of popular interest, virtual reality (VR) faded somewhat from view, but research and development have continued. Applications have expanded as costs have come down and hardware has improved. Originally, VR was used to treat simple phobias, especially fear of heights and flying. Applications for claustrophobia, fear of driving, and fear of spiders ensued. Currently, there is ongoing work on posttraumatic stress disorder, eating disorders, sexual dysfunction, schizophrenic hallucinations, and addictions. Considerable success has been achieved in using VR for distraction from pain. Attention is now being given to panic disorder and agoraphobia. The latter syndromes require the use of simulated human beings (avatars). Existing avatars are standardized, schematic, and limited in their ability to interact, but exciting work is proceeding on the development of highly interactive avatars that can be personalized. The use of virtual reality (VR) technology in psychotherapy has taken some time to come of age. After capturing the public imagination some years ago, enthusiasm for VR flagged as a result of hardware limitations, the need for expensive equipment, and the lack of a commercial market. Recently, however, significant improvements have been made in computer speed and the quality of head-mounted displays. Further, costs have come down dramatically. The original studies were conducted with environments that were at best animated caricatures of real environments yet could cost over $250,000. Today, richer and much more complex environments perform effortlessly on typical desktop and high-end laptop computers. These technological developments have contributed to an increase in the amount of work being done with VR. Although it is difficult to estimate how many clinical VR installations are currently operating-there is no central registry-one company, Virtually Better, has systems in approximately 40 locations in 6 countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, Israel, Argentina, and Ireland. These installations are in hospitals, universities, private practice settings, and small groups. Many of these sites conduct a mix of clinical training, research, and clinical work. Even more interesting is the fact that according to a recent poll published in an APA journal, the use of VR and other computerized Kalman Glantz, independent practice, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Albert (Skip) Rizzo,
Frontiers in Psychiatry
BackgroundSocial anxiety disorder (SAD) has a high prevalence and an early onset with recovery taking decades to occur. Current evidence supports the efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) with virtual reality (VR) exposure. However, the evidence is based on a sparse number of studies with predominantly small sample sizes. There is a need for more trials investigating the optimal way of applying VR based exposure for SAD. In this trial, we will test the efficacy of CBT with adaptive VR exposure allowing adjustment of the exposure based on real-time monitoring of the participants's anxiety level.MethodsThe trial is a randomized controlled, assessor-blinded, parallel-group superiority trail. The study has two arms: (1) CBT including exposure in vivo (CBT-Exp), (2) CBT including exposure therapy using individually tailored VR-content and a system to track anxiety levels (CBT-ExpVR). Treatment is individual, manual-based and consists of 10 weekly sessions with a duration of ...
Virtual reality in the assessment, understanding, and treatment of mental health disorders
Psychological Medicine, 2017
Mental health problems are inseparable from the environment. With virtual reality (VR), computer-generated interactive environments, individuals can repeatedly experience their problematic situations and be taught, via evidence-based psychological treatments, how to overcome difficulties. VR is moving out of specialist laboratories. Our central aim was to describe the potential of VR in mental health, including a consideration of the first 20 years of applications. A systematic review of empirical studies was conducted. In all, 285 studies were identified, with 86 concerning assessment, 45 theory development, and 154 treatment. The main disorders researched were anxiety (n = 192), schizophrenia (n = 44), substancerelated disorders (n = 22) and eating disorders (n = 18). There are pioneering early studies, but the methodological quality of studies was generally low. The gaps in meaningful applications to mental health are extensive. The most established finding is that VR exposure-based treatments can reduce anxiety disorders, but there are numerous research and treatment avenues of promise. VR was found to be a much-misused term, often applied to non-interactive and non-immersive technologies. We conclude that VR has the potential to transform the assessment, understanding and treatment of mental health problems. The treatment possibilities will only be realized ifwith the user experience at the heart of designthe best immersive VR technology is combined with targeted translational interventions. The capability of VR to simulate reality could greatly increase access to psychological therapies, while treatment outcomes could be enhanced by the technology's ability to create new realities. VR may merit the level of attention given to neuroimaging.