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This is demonstrated 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 interventions psychological.
Acrophobia is the most common phobia and one in five claim to have suffered throughout their lives, while one in twenty is clinically affected.
The experiment, led by Daniel Freeman, University of Oxford (UK), 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 the usual treatment
Each individual had to cover questionnaires on the severity of his acrophobia at the beginning and end of the process, and attend a control meeting at four o'clock.
VR therapy consisted of six half-hour sessions lasting two weeks during which, gradually, users entered complex spaces where they had to face their fear of simple tasks, such as looking through a barrier, walk on a floating platform or save downloaded cats on a tree.
The program has a virtual coach that guides users and offers lessons.
During the game you can hear it say: The reason we are afraid of heights is that we think that something bad is going to happen. And that makes us anxious. Then we end up avoiding heights because they cool down. But I will show you how to look at these thoughts in a new way. "
All users who completed the RV treatment said that their acrophobia had been reduced and, in the follow-up session, 34 people stated that they were not afraid of heights;" Virtual reality treatments have the potential to be effective, faster and more appealing to many patients, "said Freeman, adding that this could be a" system of "."
However, experts have recognized some deficiencies in the test, such as not comparing it with other current therapies for phobias or not assessing fear in a real-life scenario.
One participant said he noticed that in his life of all days, he was "less hostile to the edges, the steps, the heights."
"I still have a small reaction, both in the RV and on the outside, or it is shorter and I can feel my thighs relax, because I do not feel the need Do not go for the edge, "he says.
The next step is to check if automated treatments using virtual reality programs can be effective. during the treatment of other mental health disorders.
EFE / MF
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