Technologies Can Treat Mental Disorders Without Human Help – Science and Technology

Advances in technology open up the treatment of mental disorders ranging from the development of new therapeutic strategies to one of the biggest barriers to access to mental health: limited availability trained professionals. Previously limited to research environments, resources such as virtual reality – which have proven effective in treating phobias – are starting to reach clinics.

An example is a pioneering study published yesterday in the scientific journal The Lancet Psychiatry. In an unprecedented experiment, researchers from the University of Oxford in the UK compared the use of an automated virtual reality system to treat acrophobia, fear and fear. increased heights and the usual clinical approach to the problem in the country. . This, in general, is due to the lack of time available for mental health professionals assigned to the care of patients with disorders considered to be more serious. Acrophobia is the most common phobia, with one in five reporting at least one episode of irrational fear during one's life. One in 20 meets the diagnostic criteria for the condition

For the study, the researchers recruited 100 people clinically diagnosed with moderate or severe acrophobia, but who did not receive any treatment for the problem or other mental disorders, despite the disruption by, on average, 30 years. They were then randomly divided into two groups. The first followed the treatment of virtual reality with a digital avatar in six sessions of half an hour each for two weeks.

Using a virtual reality mask, patients are guided by the avatar, programmed to give basic information about fear of heights and encourage them to face their fear. They "virtually" enter a ten-story virtual office complex with a large atrium. There, they engage in activities that make them progressively challenge the limitations imposed by their acrophobia, to watch the slow relegation of a bodyguard on a ledge to walk on a platform on a high height. bigger. They are also encouraged to repeat actions such as rescuing a cat from a tree. At the same time, the "digital therapist" explains what they need to learn from each of these activities, challenging them to cope with similar situations in real life between sessions.

In all, the researchers offered a virtual reality treatment to 49 people, 47 of whom performed at least one session and 44 completed the six prescribed sessions, two of whom discontinued therapy because they found the system very difficult to manage and another saying that they could no longer attend the sessions. In a follow-up interview four weeks after the end of treatment, 34 members of this group, or 69% of the first 49, no longer meet the at least moderate diagnostic criteria for acrophobia that led them to be selected for l & # 39; experience. The 51 people who dialed the control group, as expected, reported no change in their level of fear of heights, and then had the opportunity to try virtual therapy.

– Immersive Virtual Reality Therapies That Do not Need The presence of a therapist has the potential to dramatically increase access to psychological interventions – sums up Daniel Freeman, professor at Oxford University and leader of the study. – We need more qualified therapists, not less, but to meet the growing demand for mental health treatments, we will also need powerful technology solutions. As our clinical trial shows, virtual reality treatments have the potential to be effective, and faster and more appealing to many patients than traditional face-to-face therapies. With our automated virtual reality therapy, we have the ability to provide high quality treatment to many people at a lower cost. Our study is an important first step, and we are conducting other clinical trials to find out whether automated psychological treatment with virtual reality also works for other mental health disorders.

In the comments on treatment included in the study, patients also praised the effectiveness of the therapy, as well as appreciated the opportunity to have access to psychological intervention after suffering the problem for years.

"I am 60 years old and I have suffered with fear of height, extreme fear of height life I came to the center (research), I did three VR (Virtual Reality) sessions and I've already surpassed everything I imagined it could. I did not think I could get what the researchers called Level 2, but I l & rsquo; I am fully confident that I will advance several other levels in the coming weeks.For me, although it is not easy and I can not say that my fear of size has passed, I can certainly say that I am better, and my confidence is also greater.At here everything is fine, "says one.

After this first step, Oxford researchers now perform other tests to see if the treatment also works on other mental disorders. The potential of these tools is such that they were the subject of a very lively round table at the 15th Brain, Behavior and Emotions Neuroscience Congress (Brain 2018), recently held in Gramado, Rio de Janeiro. Great do Sul.

The neuropsychologist and professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS) Christian Kristensen sees in technology not only an aid to therapies as a possible substitute for mental health professionals in certain situations. According to him, the omnipresence of smartphones offers patients real-time monitoring, allowing treatment to go beyond regular sessions, as well as self-monitoring and self-monitoring functions. Intervention such as recording emotions and thoughts or applications of relaxation and meditation improve and speed up the therapeutic process. But the decline in prices of virtual reality equipment, target investments of technology giants like Google, Samsung and Facebook, should in recent years extend its proven and effective use in the fight against phobias and other diseases in clinics

– Many of these features are still limited to research environments, but I think that their spread to the clinical environment will occur over the next decade, with its rapidly increasing and irreversible use – says [19659015] [ad_2]
Source link