Abstract
Virtual exercise therapy is considered a useful method by which to encourage patients with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) to engage in aerobic exercise in order to reduce stress. This study was intended to explore the psychological and physiological responses of patients with GAD after cycling in a virtual environment containing natural images. Seventy-seven participants with GAD were recruited in the present study and randomly assigned to a virtual nature (VN) or a virtual abstract painting (VAP) group. Their electroencephalogram alpha activity, perceived stress, and levels of restorative quality and satisfaction were assessed at baseline and after an acute bout of 20 min of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise. The results showed that both the VN and VAP groups showed significantly higher alpha activity post-exercise as compared to pre-exercise. The VN group relative to the VAP group exhibited higher levels of stress-relief, restorative quality, and personal satisfaction. These findings imply that a virtual exercise environment is an effective way to induce a relaxing effect in patients with GAD. However, they exhibited more positive psychological responses when exercising in such an environment with natural landscapes.
Highlights
Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is one of the most common mental disorders
The participants selected for this study were based on the following inclusion criteria: (a) an initial diagnosis of GAD based on the generalized anxiety disorder 7–item (GAD-7) scale owing to its high sensitivity and specificity to detect GAD [2,39]; (b) aged between 50 and 75 years because exercise leads to several benefits for middle-aged and older adults [40,41,42]; (c) normal body mass index (BMI) (18.5 ≤ BMI
Exclusion criteria were that the participants had the following: (a) obsessive compulsive disorder or other anxiety disorder; (b) a mini mental state examination (MMSE) score less than 24, representing cognitive impairment; and (c) suffering from claustrophobia since the experiment was performed in a narrow, immersive surround system
Summary
Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is one of the most common mental disorders. It is characterized by persistent, invasive, excessive problems that make daily life difficult [1,2]. Patients with GAD have pre-existing anxiety, nervous reactions (e.g., anxiety, tremors, and headaches) or worry about many events or activities, which will result in their feeling highly stressed and finding it difficult to relax [3,4]. Virtual environment (VE) technology has the potential to provide people with a high degree of immersion and presence, which may make individuals with high stress loads feel that they have escaped from the actual surrounding environment [6]. The Cave VE surrounds users by projecting stereoscopic images on a large screen, thereby providing them with a highly immersive experience
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