Virtual reality therapy is promising in the treatment of social anxiety disorder

According to a preliminary study published in the journal, badociating cognitive-behavioral therapy with virtual reality technology could help people with social anxiety disorder Behavioral and cognitive psychotherapy.

"I am interested in the subject of virtual reality (VR) therapies, which opens up many new possibilities. Virtual reality environments are accessible, interactive and customizable to meet the needs of a patient, "said Chris N. W. Geraets, PhD student at the University of Groningen and corresponding author of the study.

"Specific triggers that cause anxiety can be incorporated into the worlds of virtual reality to form a safe and perfect environment for practice. Particularly in patients with severe generalized anxiety disorders who tend to be reluctant to undergo treatment, this form of treatment may be a good first step in treatment. "

In this study, psychotherapists proposed cognitive-behavioral therapy to 15 patients with generalized social anxiety disorder. This type of therapy often requires that patients be exposed to situations that cause their anxiety. But for the study, this has been accomplished with the help of virtual reality environments.

Patients attended 16 one-hour resuscitation sessions, held once or twice a week. During each session, patients navigated in one of four virtual environments: street, bus, café or supermarket.

Two patients left the study. However, the remaining participants reported less anxiety during social gatherings, less paranoia in daily life, less anxiety related to social interactions, fewer depressive symptoms and improved quality of life after the treatment.

"Even if the virtual reality is not real, it is real enough to provoke psychological and physical reactions. We can use this technique to deal with exposures to virtual reality too difficult to deal with low threshold groups, "Geraets told PsyPost.

The findings provide some initial evidence that virtual reality-based therapy can be effective in treating social anxiety. But more research is needed.

"We still have to study whether the VR-CBT works faster or better than the conventional CBT. We expect this to be the case, because a greater emphasis is placed on the behavioral part of the therapy and therefore on how to live in a virtual reality environment and to practice behavior, "explained Geraets.

"In addition, even after treatment, it was still possible to improve the symptoms. So I think we need to learn more about the best way to integrate this type of therapy. "

"VR software and hardware are constantly improving. One thing we missed was the flexible interaction, it is currently possible with the software we use, "added Geraets.

The study "Virtual Reality-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Patients with Generalized Social Anxiety Disorder: A Pilot Study" was conducted by Chris N.W. Geraets, Wim Veling, Maartje Witlox, Anton B. P. Staring, Suzy J.M.A. Matthijssen and Danielle Cath.