Harvard Review of Psychiatry· 2017Q2· Review
The Use of Virtual Reality Technology in the Treatment of Anxiety and Other Psychiatric Disorders
- 845citations
- Q2SCImago
- 2017year
Short summary
Virtual reality (VR) offers a controlled, immersive, and cost-effective method for treating psychiatric disorders, particularly anxiety, by enabling therapist-guided exposure-based interventions.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- VR provides users with a sense of presence in computer-generated environments via head-mounted displays and interface devices.
- VR enables controlled delivery of sensory stimulation by therapists, offering a convenient and cost-effective treatment modality.
- The review focuses on the effectiveness of VR, especially for exposure-based interventions in anxiety disorders.
- It covers the history, empirical evidence, benefits, and future prospects of VR in psychiatric treatment and research.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: After participating in this activity, learners should be better able to:• Evaluate the literature regarding the effectiveness of incorporating virtual reality (VR) in the treatment of psychiatric disorders• Assess the use of exposure-based intervention for anxiety disorders ABSTRACT: Virtual reality (VR) allows users to experience a sense of presence in a computer-generated, three-dimensional environment. Sensory information is delivered through a head-mounted display and specialized interface devices. These devices track head movements so that the movements and images change in a natural way with head motion, allowing for a sense of immersion. VR, which allows for controlled delivery of sensory stimulation via the therapist, is a convenient and cost-effective treatment. This review focuses on the available literature regarding the effectiveness of incorporating VR within the treatment of various psychiatric disorders, with particular attention to exposure-based intervention for anxiety disorders. A systematic literature search was conducted in order to identify studies implementing VR-based treatment for anxiety or other psychiatric disorders. This article reviews the history of the development of VR-based technology and its use within psychiatric treatment, the empirical evidence for VR-based treatment, and the benefits for using VR for psychiatric research and treatment. It also presents recommendations for how to incorporate VR into psychiatric care and discusses future directions for VR-based treatment and clinical research.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 2017 · DOI ↗
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Field: Applied Psychology
Applied PsychologyPsychology