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A new automated psychological therapy based on a program of virtual reality (RV) could help reduce the fear of heights of people clinically diagnosed with acrophobia.
This is shown by an essay published today in the scientific journal The Lancet Psychiatry the first in which VR technology – which introduces the user into a virtual environment – is used for new psychological interventions.
(You can access the study of HERE )
Acrophobia is the most common phobia and one in five claims to have suffered throughout his life, while all twenty patients are clinically diagnosed with the disease
The experiment, conducted by Daniel Freeman, of the University of Oxford (United Kingdom), used a sample of one hundred people diagnosed with acrophobia who did not receive any psychological therapy
About half of the participants (49) were treated with VR software, while the other half (51) received treatment usual.
Each individual had to cover questionnaires about the severity of their acrophobia at the beginning and end of the process, and attend a control meeting four weeks after the end.
VR therapy included six half-hour sessions lasting two weeks during which, gradually, users entered complex spaces where they had to face their fear of simple tasks like looking through a fence, walking on a floating platform or saving cats from a tree.
has a virtual coach that guides users and offers lessons.
During the game you can hear him say, "The reason we are afraid of heights is because we think something bad is going to happen, and that makes us anxious. Then we end up avoiding heights because they cool, but I'm going to show you how to look at these thoughts in a new way. "
All users who received VR treatment reported that their acrophobia had been reduced and at the follow-up session, 34 people said they were not afraid. the heights, but the 51 of the other procedure were as before.
"Virtual reality treatments have the potential to be effective, faster, and more attractive to many patients," said Freeman, adding that this could be a "However, experts have acknowledged some shortcomings in the trials, as not comparing it with other current therapies for phobias or failure to assess fear in a real-life scenario
One participant said that he had noticed how "less hostile to the edges" , at the steps, at the heights "
" I still have a small reaction, both in the RV and on the outside, but it is shorter and I can feel my thighs relax because I do not feel the need to fetch the edge, "he said. effective in the treatment of other mental health disorders.
Source: EFE
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