Virtual Reality and Mental Health Care

Abstract

The current state of virtual reality is confined to the realm of video games, movies, and other entertainment forms. In recent years, however, VR has begun to make its way into the therapeutic realm. Virtual reality therapy is an emerging treatment for those with psychological disorders or social anxieties. This new form of therapy seeks to benefit from the immersive properties of virtual reality. VR treatment seeks to treat phobias by placing the patient in a virtual environment where they would come into contact with their anxiety-causing object or event. The aim is that, over time, patients would begin to show improvement in regards to their anxiety response when faced with real-world objects or events that invoke their fear. Further, VR treatment seeks to treat post-traumatic stress disorders by allowing patients to relive their trauma in a safe environment where they can watch themselves reenact the traumatic event. The goal is that patients would begin to build skills through practice that would be able to help them cope with actual situations of danger. The technology to create VR environments is already available, and the treatment methods are refined through clinical experiments with patients. VR has opened up a new avenue of understanding and treatment for those who suffer from psychological disorders, and it has the potential to be more effective than traditional therapeutic methods.