VR can cure depression and other mental illnesses
VR means virtual reality, and was originally translated as "spiritual technology". Below is what I have collected and compiled about how VR can cure depression and other mental illnesses. I hope you all like it. VR Can Cure Depression and Other Mental Illnesses Part 1
Virtual reality (VR) is not only a concept that looks beautiful, nor is it as simple as young people wearing VR glasses to watch videos and play games. In fact, the encounter between VR and almost all traditional industries has already or will produce a devastating change.
Looking at it, these applications above VR seem to be the icing on the cake; more applications that can really help provide timely help are full of expectations. In fact, in addition to making you laugh, VR can also heal you.
According to foreign media reports, an international research team composed of colleagues from University College London and Spanish research institutions previously issued a report saying that small-scale clinical trials showed that using virtual reality (VR) technology An experimental treatment that could help relieve symptoms of depression. If this effect can be verified in larger-scale trials, it is expected to open up new ideas for the treatment of depression.
The test subjects were 15 patients with depression aged 23 to 61 years old. According to a report published by researchers, VR headsets can allow patients to "put into" a virtual avatar, communicate with a depressed virtual child, and learn how to express compassion to the child. The child was programmed to respond positively to the patient's avatar's speech and gradually stop crying. The researchers then asked the patient to "step into the shoes" of the child and observe the entire communication process from the child's perspective.
15 patients each received three such virtual reality treatments. The results showed that one month after completing the treatment, 9 patients showed signs of symptom relief, and 4 of them had a significant reduction in the severity of their depression.
In an interview with the media, Chris Bruin, a member of the study and a professor at University College London, said that when anxiety and depression are overshadowed, people tend to be overly self-critical, and their innovation The experimental therapy is designed to teach patients how to be kinder and more tolerant of themselves. He said: "We have observed very good results. Many patients said that this has changed their attitude towards dealing with things in real life. Originally, when they suffered setbacks, they would have excessive self-blame, which also caused them to be anxious. Even the cause of depression. By comforting children and then receiving the same comfort, the purpose of this study is to make patients feel more compassionate and less self-blame."
Although the results are gratifying, the experiment has also been questioned by some, mainly because the scale of the experiment was small and there was no control group for comparison. The research team stated that they hope to conduct larger-scale randomized controlled clinical trials to verify the efficacy and further improve this therapy.
In addition to depression, VR’s excellent situation simulation function can also shine in other fields of psychotherapy. Taking anxiety disorders as an example, Bao Daying told reporters that traditional treatment methods require step-by-step setting in behavioral training, starting with objects or situations with an anxiety level of 1 and gradually advancing. "But using VR doesn't require so much effort. The situation can be presented directly to you."
One of the advantages of using VR technology to treat mental illnesses such as depression is that it can save a lot of manpower and material resources. Psychotherapy is time-consuming, and VR can save a lot of labor costs, but this advantage itself is also its shortcoming, because when there are no people in psychotherapy, the question of whether virtual reality can replace people comes up. It is not a human being, it is essentially a technology or a machine, but it carries one person’s will to heal another person.”
The field of psychotherapy is embracing new technologies, whether it is VR or AI (artificial intelligence). Intelligence), technological progress is bringing more possibilities.
Nuanqiu, where Bao Daying works, is also developing an intelligent conversation robot called "Xiaoqiu", but she has repeatedly emphasized that in psychotherapy, people must be greater than technology, and the most important thing is to use emotions to do work, and Machines or technology cannot do this now or in the not-too-distant future.
In addition to depression, VR has also made other attempts in the field of psychotherapy. The University of Newcastle in the UK released a research report stating that they are using the "Blue Room" system to use VR to treat psychological fears and help patients return to normal life. In the experiment, nine boys aged 7 to 13 were placed in the "Blue Room", a 360-degree holographic world with no blind spots, and were surrounded by scenes that had previously caused psychological trauma to the children. Psychologists accompany them in the "Blue Room", guiding them to gradually adapt to the environment, and ultimately helping them overcome their fears. The results showed that 8 out of 9 children were able to handle fearful situations well, and 4 of them completely got rid of their psychological fear.
Expanding into the medical field, VR technology is providing great help to future doctors. Western University of California Health Sciences has opened a virtual reality learning center. The center has four VR technologies - zSpace display, Anatomage virtual dissecting table, Oculus Rift and Stanford University anatomical model on iPad, which can help students use VR to learn dentistry. , orthopedics, veterinary medicine, physical therapy and nursing knowledge. Taiwan's Covidien Medical Clinical Training Center also provides VR medical training, which not only provides doctors with a more realistic experimental environment, but also reduces the harm to animals caused by traditional training. Some institutions predict that between 2014 and 2019, the compound growth rate of the global VR medical services market will reach 19.37.
In actual combat, VR has also successfully comforted burn patients. In order to reduce the pain of dressing changes, Loyola University Hospital in the United States uses a VR game called Snow World. It was a world of ice and snow, with icy rivers and waterfalls, as well as snowmen and penguins. In the game, patients can fly across snow-covered canyons or throw snowballs without worrying about pain. It can be said that in the near future, VR technology will show its talents. VR Can Cure Depression and Other Mental Illnesses Part 2
Mental health professionals have been using virtual reality technology to treat post-traumatic stress disorder since the late 1990s. In the past few years, more and more studies have shown that virtual reality technology is also an effective solution for treating depression.
Nowadays, the technology is easier to use, the cost burden is slowly decreasing, and in practical applications it can even alleviate the overloaded health care system around the world.
The Rise of Virtual Reality Therapy
In the United States, at least one of the 17.3 million adults suffers from major depression. That number represents 7.1% of all adults in the United States, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.
Treatment for depression often involves suppressing negative emotions, and VR excels in this area because being in a VR environment can help distract patients from thinking about pain and other negative thoughts. It would be easier for humans to cope with emotions if technology could convince the brain to focus on other things.
However, virtual reality programs are not designed to be stand-alone treatments and need to be used in conjunction with medications and other therapeutic exercises to amplify the effects of treatment.
"BehaVR" is an immersive platform for assisting behavioral health care. The platform uses virtual reality, cloud computing and machine learning to create personalized experiences for patients to help them overcome cognitive patterns and behaviors that keep them in a depressed state.
Additionally, clinical teams using BehaVR have full control over the virtual experience within the platform, enabling and monitoring immersive content through the app.
A study on the effectiveness of virtual reality as a defusion technique for coping with unwanted thoughts (Arianna Prudenzi, Brendan Rooney, etc., 2018) illustrates How virtual reality can effectively reduce the spread of negative thoughts, research believes that patients can control their self-evaluation by using handheld controllers in the virtual environment, and patients can learn how to manage negative thoughts.
Exploring new treatments in virtual reality
As mentioned above, current treatments for depression are primarily designed to suppress negative emotions rather than enhance positive emotions. While there have been only a few attempts to develop antidepressant VR solutions, existing methods have shown promising results. For example, immersive entertainment activities such as virtual gardening and interacting with pets are feasible and suitable for clinical settings.
Virtual reality can also enhance non-conventional clinical applications, such as rehabilitation exercises that can help patients minimize self-criticism and other symptoms of depression.
"Psious" is another VR platform that helps mental health professionals conduct therapeutic interventions. On this platform, psychologists can deploy various immersive programs to treat depression. Additionally, Psious accurately measures a patient's physical response to exercise. Currently, the platform is available in 60 countries and thousands of therapists are using it to treat patients.
Improving access to mental health care through virtual reality
British medical journal The Lancet Commission in a report on global mental health and sustainable development It is estimated that mental disorders could cost the world $16 trillion by 2030. Because there is an unmet need for behavioral healthcare, there is a need for innovative treatments for patients with psychological and behavioral disorders. Virtual reality is a popular solution. For a treatment technology that requires an evidence base, virtual reality solutions have huge potential to close the global mental health treatment gap.
With the immersive capabilities of VR, healthcare professionals can create low-intensity interventions that are scalable and do not require extensive resources to develop and deploy. VR therapy will be less intense for patients and will attract them to more active treatments.
Perhaps in the future, consumers will be able to use such virtual reality therapy every day. As VR glasses become more accessible and cost-effective, these treatments could help millions of vulnerable people gain access to quality mental health care. ;