"Virtual reality has cured my fear of heights"

Fay Nugent developed a fear of heights in his thirties.

"It started after I left for a girls' weekend," she says.

"We went on an adventure activity called a tree walk

" I managed to climb up to do it – but when it was a matter of getting into the high ropes, I just could not do it.

"I felt physically sick and panicked, even though I knew I was perfectly safe."

Her phobia worsened in subsequent years, to the point that she prevented her from doing things everyday.

"I went to a concert in Wembley to see Take That," she says.

"It's a huge place and our seats were at the back, upstairs."

"I tried going there to take my seat – but all of a sudden I had that feeling of total panic.

" It was a little like in cartoons when the character's eyes came out with strings. "

Acrophobia

Fay, now 48, began to avoid the scary situations that included escalators for her.

19659007] "These are the descendants who worried me the most," she says.

"It was not so much that I was worried about tripping, I was afraid of it." To be up and feel the sensation of being pulled down "

Next, Fay, who works in malaria research at Oxford University, heard talk about a phobia therapy trial that is taking place in another part of the institution.

She applied for and was invited to participate but, unfortunately, she was placed in the control group rather than in the treatment group that would experience the new innovation – a virtual reality (VR) program for acrophobia a fear of heights).

Reading of the media is not supported on your device

Most people in the trial had been afraid of heights for 30 years or older.

Those in the treatment group – 44 in all – had five or six 30-minute sessions of VR treatment over a two-week period.

The results, which are published by The Lancet Psychiatry, were significant. About 70% of the VR group was no longer afraid of heights, while, unsurprisingly, all the control group, who had not received any treatment, still did so.

Fay has now had the same therapy herself.

"Once the trial was over, they offered it to me and I'm so glad I said yes," she says.

"The heights do not worry me now, I recently managed to climb a 30m long escalator [100ft] at Helsinki Airport and I felt very good."

The VR simulator immerses people in a safe situation. can learn to manage their fear.

The user wears a VR helmet and is asked to climb a 10-storey building and perform fear-inducing tasks, such as looking over a high ledge and throwing balls.

One of the most difficult is to walk on a platform to rescue a cat stuck in a tree or ride the building's atrium on the nose of a giant whale named Wilber.

Image copyright
Oxford University

Principal investigator, Professor Daniel Freeman, said, "We wanted fun and engaging tasks, and most importantly, that the person looks down to face his fear

. to be something that would teach them to feel safe with heights. "

The therapy is also provided by a virtual coach who rebadures and guides the user along the way.

Prof Freeman says that some patients might prefer that in the end. also save the NHS money.

"We need more qualified therapists, not less," he said, "but to meet the strong demand for health treatment mental, we also need powerful technological solutions.

"We are about to launch a VR therapy pilot project with some NHS clinics, hopefully this will be a new, helpful way to help people overcome their fears."

The fear of heights is the most common phobia. one in five has one at a time.

The study was funded by Oxford VR – a spin-off from the University of Oxford – and the Oxford Health Biomedical Research Center of the National Institute of Health Research.