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In a recent blog post titled “Virtual Reality Gave Me My Brain Back,” acclaimed entrepreneur Mark Cuban shared his vestibular experience on how virtual reality (VR) helped him regain balance. Mark had been sidelined by vestibular disturbances for months, suffering from dizziness, brain fog and an unsettling feeling that something was wrong with his head.
Welcome to a new wave of psychological research: VR content primarily designed to facilitate exposure therapy. Exposure therapy is a treatment for anxiety disorders, exposing patients to anxiety-inducing stimuli in a safe and controlled environment. During VR therapy, you strap on a headset, delve into the past, confront your fears in a controlled manner, and overcome real-life troubles. It aims to make patients understand, in the long term, that the “threats” they perceive are in fact not very dangerous.
So many mental battles to fight
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety attacks and various phobias are struggles that many have in themselves. The pandemic has even contributed to aggravate these disorders in some. Fear, anger, worry, frustration, etc. keep many on the line as they desperately seek solutions to keep their minds from going crazy.
VR therapy seems to shine a new ray of hope in ending these mental health issues or helping control the mind from detaching. Doctors around the world are increasingly suggesting VR therapy to diagnose and treat medical conditions.
The technology, which immerses a patient in a 3D environment mimicking a traumatic memory or other mental health issues, is also catching up in India and showing promising results.
VR: the next big thing for mental health
Dr Jaydip Chaudhuri, Chief Neurologist at Yashoda Hospitals, Hyderabad, explains how virtual reality and augmented reality (AR), which use computer-generated situations, are helping mental health patients.
“Patients with anxiety and mental disorders view these computer-generated situations using special high-end glasses. It appears to be a potential diagnostic and therapeutic tool for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other dementias, ”he said, adding that studies have shown that VR therapy certainly benefits patients. living with dementia and helping their caregivers and families to a significant extent. “It was found that patients with dementia had reduced aggressiveness and interacted better with their caregivers when treated and exposed to VR therapy. “
On the one hand, the virtual maze navigation test can identify people with AD early enough and almost identify subjects with the AD suggestibility gene. People with the AD susceptibility gene perform the virtual maze navigation test differently and with difficulty compared to normal controls of the same age.
Dr Jaydip adds that while VR therapy is still emerging, it has the potential to make a difference in the lives of patients with dementia. “The standardization of the treatment algorithm and the availability of this treatment modality in many other centers will allow this therapeutic strategy to play a more important role in the future,” he adds.
How it works
In presenting the intervention technique to us, Dr Nirali Bhatia, cyberpsychologist and psychotherapist, gives the example of a client who is afraid of heights. intervention, called guided imagery, in which clients are invited to visualize the scenario and stimulate that whole experience. They are then guided to work on it while their bodily changes are closely monitored.
“This process requires the client to be able to cognitively enter this trance. At all levels, the feelings of the client are monitored, ”explains Dr Nirali, adding that the simple and realistic simulation of virtual reality can be applied to every client, regardless of language or cognitive barriers.
The doctor describes the process in more detail. “VR therapy applies a stimulating environment where the client is slowly invited to move on to the next floor. At all levels, the client must notice his feelings, what he was feeling before and if he is feeling better, ”explains the doctor. “At this point, if there is any anxiety or palpitations in the client or in their bodily movements, we step in immediately and guide them on how to deal with it. Then we slowly move to the next level. Virtual reality applications work with controlled exposure, which ultimately allows customers to be well prepared to handle these scenarios in real life. “
The future of VR therapy
Doctors describe virtual reality therapy as a “major breakthrough” in the treatment of mental health disorders, calling it the next big innovation in the medical field, although it has not yet fully entered the mainstream. dominant.
Experts say, however, that some clients would need multiple simulations “sessions” to get better results. For some, each session could feel like being in a fantasy novel.
Dr Krishna Sahiti, a consultant psychiatrist at Apollo Hospital in Jubilee Hills, says they use audio and visual aids to slowly increase the intensity of the stimulus in virtual reality. “The physical symptoms and the psychological response are assessed slowly. Clients who avoid and fear the stimulus will experience the stimulus with the help of a psychiatrist and in a protected environment, which is hassle-free, ”advises the doctor. “In subsequent sessions, the intensity of the stimulus is slowly increased so that we can help the patient feel the stimulus symptom-free while helping them.”
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Dr Jayadip Chaudhuri, Chief Neurologist at Yashoda Hospitals, Hyderabad:
“Protocols simulated by virtual reality are already being used in the treatment of AD in some centers and relevant data has been generated. Create virtual environments that remind patients with AD of their childhood or early adulthood (because we know that distant memories are relatively better, preserved in them), using photographs, music that relate to them, etc. . can be magical in some patients.
Dr I Bharat Kumar Reddy, Senior Consultant Psychiatrist, Apollo Hospitals:
“The technique of exposure to cognitive behavioral therapy and response prevention is used to help patients with anxiety disorders. Virtual reality-based techniques are used to help patients with post-traumatic stress disorder, such as rape victims, accident victims and veterans. Its use is slowly expanding to help patients with personality disorders, especially those who have suffered childhood trauma. “
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