How Virtual Reality Helps to Treat Mental Disorders and Anxiety
Virtual Reality (VR) is a cutting-edge technology revolutionizing the modern world. VR is mostly associated with gaming; however, it’s widely used in the automotive industry, education, retail, real estate, architecture, art, design, and other areas of human life.
The healthcare sector has also adopted VR on a large scale. Leading hospitals and medical education institutions cooperate with healthcare software development companies in search of efficient VR solutions. In this article, we’ll discuss the potential of Virtual Reality for treating mental disorders.
What is Virtual Reality (VR)?
Virtual Reality is one of the principal immersive technologies, alongside Augmented Reality (AR). It allows you to plunge into a computer-simulated 3D environment that fully substitutes the real world. Just put on a VR headset and haptic gloves — and you will find yourself on a different planet, in another country, or totally fantastic surroundings.
Such experience may be truly magnificent as it enhances the perception of space and time, and things around us. Just make sure not to become addicted. Moreover, some people should approach this technology with caution as they may develop VR sickness.
VR Healthcare Applications
There are numerous ways of VR application in healthcare. It is used for teaching anatomy to students, training medical staff to perform operations or develop empathy, facilitating the recovery of patients, conducting medical conferences, and so on.
One of the areas where VR proves especially efficient is the treatment of patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, panic attacks, phobias, and other mental health conditions.
How does VR help to treat mental disorders?
Virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET)
VRET is used to teach patients with PTSD and anxiety disorders to overcome their fears via exposure therapy by working with medical specialists in order to simulate real-life experiences and retrieve the memory of traumatic events. For example, a person who survived an accident has developed the fear of traveling by car or public transport.
Using VR equipment instead of making trips, the patient gets accustomed to painful situations and learns how to confront the negative emotions. The technology is especially useful in cases where traditional exposure therapy has limitations, for example, in recreating the circumstances of a war conflict for a former soldier.
Fighting social anxiety
VR is a helpful tool for people with different social phobias. For instance, it can train shy teenagers to overcome diffidence, fight social anxiety, cope with aggression or bullying. By immersing in a simulated environment, they learn to communicate, converse with strangers, and face other social challenges involving both youngsters and adults. As a result, they become more sociable and self-confident.
Managing phobias
Many of us have such problems as claustrophobia, arachnophobia, and others. Compared to PTSD, they may seem less serious. However, they significantly spoil the quality of life. VR can make a valuable contribution to helping people suffering from phobias.
For example, while training a person to control the fear of height, a virtual coach guides them explaining where to step, or in what direction to move. Real-life situations help to strengthen the skill. A patient may “cross” a rickety bridge or “save” a cat sitting high in the tree.
Distraction to reduce pain
Hospital patients or those recovering from serious illnesses tend to have burdensome thoughts about their health. Without timely treatment, this can develop in depression or other mood disorders. One of the most efficient ways to combat such a state is a distraction. VR helps to plunge into a fantastic new reality full of beautiful imagery and pleasant sounds.
Doctors may offer VR scenarios according to patients’ personal preferences. For a sea lover, it will be exciting to explore the underwater world, another person can willingly travel in outer space, etc. The potential of VR in managing pain is impressive as it can even relieve labor pain.
VR Helps to Reimagine Healthcare
Undoubtedly, virtual reality has great potential in treating patients with mental conditions. Currently, an obvious limitation regarding access to VR technology use is its high cost. Not every clinic can afford VR equipment to treat all their patients, and not every patient is subject to such treatment because of their health condition.
However, VR helps to reimagine mental health care and find new methods of dealing with numerous problems. Moreover, it can be truly exciting as gamification opens the door to a wonderful new world. That is why healthcare software solutions companies should keep on developing and building innovations.
If your clinic wants to implement VR in its workflow, you should contact an experienced healthcare technology solutions provider. A team of experts will assess your demands and design and deliver a project that will enhance the quality of care in your organization. It will also provide technical support for the system and offer regular upgrades.
Special thanks to Tremis Skeete, Executive Editor at Product Coalition for the valuable input which contributed to the editing of this article.
