Blog - VRET

How Can Virtual Reality Therapy against Phobias Help?

By Daniel Andreev, Chief Product Officer at PsyTech VR

July 10, 2022

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Self-guided VR phobia therapy

Phobias

Phobias

According to the WHO, about 10-15% of the world's population suffers from some form of phobia, and it's only in its obvious form. Almost every inhabitant of the planet sometimes feels hidden fears.

Often people can't overcome their fears independently and are forced to seek help from specialists. But the traditional methods do not suit everyone. Then, virtual reality phobia treatment can come to the rescue.

Live out the fear

Live out the fear

Fears are most often connected with some childhood traumas and experiences. A child once got lost in a crowd and is now afraid to be around large crowds of people. He or she failed to make a report at school and in adulthood and now avoids public speaking. As a child, the person was locked in a dark closet as a punishment - as a result, he or she is afraid of the darkness and feels discomfort in the room while being alone. For example, if someone was frightened by monsters - later the person can get a phobia of spiders...

Psychologists work with fears in different ways. But the principle is the same - to make the patient survive the traumatic situation (in real life or with the imagination) and come out of it without loss.

During an appointment, the psychologist or psychotherapist may ask the patient to describe in detail a situation that causes fear. For example, if a patient is afraid of heights, he or she can imagine looking down from the roof of a skyscraper. But not everyone has such a great imagination as James Cameron has to visualise such difficult real-life situations. In this case, the specialist can give "homework" - to go up on the rooftop and stay near the barriers, feel the height, and watch the city from a bird's eye view.

Staged or simulated?

Staged or simulated?

However, it is not always possible to gain access to the right place (e.g. as we discussed earlier rooftops), and the experience of being forced into contact with the object of fear can be traumatic in itself. Some believe that such staging at all calls into question the professionalism of experts to face patients with real fears.

What if you could find safer options for managing phobias? One such option might be the virtual simulation - VRET. With the help of virtual reality for phobias, coping with fears becomes more effective.

PsyTech VR includes an LMS system with courses, VR/AR content, and a platform for specialists that provides access to training statistics and virtual telemedicine.

Currently, PsyTech VR works with six phobias: acrophobia (fear of heights), arachnophobia (fear of spiders), glossophobia (fear of public speaking), claustrophobia (fear of confined spaces), nyctophobia (fear of the dark) and aerophobia (fear of airplanes). Working on these phobias with a dedicated VR phobia treatment, you can more easily overcome your fears.

All phobia scenarios are scripted from different levels. For example, if you choose aerophobia, the simulation begins with the arrival of a cab to take the patient to the airport. At the same time, the news of an impending thunderstorm is broadcast on the radio in the taxi. When the taxi arrives, the user has to spend time in the airport, waiting for the upcoming. flight. Afterwards, the person is set to visit the cabin of the plane, which is really authentic. Then the takeoff will be announced, and the engine hums. A thunderstorm begins, and our "hero" has to go through turbulence, flashes of lightning, peals of thunder... The flight is simulated in stormy conditions, right up to the safe landing.

If a person is afraid of spiders, he puts on VR glasses and goes into a room with arachnids in the terrarium. The patient's task is to get close to the virtual insect and examine it from all sides. During this VR phobia therapy, your brain will become familiarwith realistic spiders, and after a few guided sessions, you'll see that the symptoms will go away.

Reduce anxiety level

Reduce anxiety level

Each time at the end of the session, the person is questioned about his or her mental state (calculated from the fear score), and every single session will be visualized in statistics on the platform. You don't have to write the results in a notebook. Track your progress and succeed in overcoming phobia! Normally, with each new session, the level of fear should decrease. It may not disappear at all, but it should at least subside.

“As a result of repeated VR training of phobiс scenario in virtual reality, the patient develops a conditioned inverse reflex: the connection between the phobic situation and the fear reaction becomes broken, and these circumstances become something normal and commonplace. Anxieties and fears subside"

Inna Maltzeva

Chief Scientific Officer at PsyTech VR
Member of the Association of Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapists

Preliminary studies have shown that the level of effectiveness of curing anxiety disorders through VR therapy is 30% higher than with traditional methods. In addition, the factor of confidentiality plays a significant role here.

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Thanks for reading!

Daniil Andreev

Chief Product Officer and Co-founder

He has a specialization in working with Unreal Engine development and XR, collaborating closely with multiple mental health professionals, such as Dr. Udi Oren, current president of the EMDR Association of Israel; Dr. Albert “Skip” Rizzo, a research professor at the University of Southern California's Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and the Davis School of Gerontology; as well as Dr. Gwilym Roddick, who is a director and founder of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy of Central & South Florida. The development of VR exposure therapy environments have advanced significantly as a result of this collaboration.

Daniil has led powerful teams toward creating groundbreaking solutions capable of combining deep user empathy with technical expertise in the field. One of the most noteworthy achievements is the leading position in the development of MindGap AI – an artificial intelligence platform that assists with creating custom virtual environments and scenarios for exposure therapy. His leadership has been a significant part of why PsyTechVR can deliver such impactful and user-oriented solutions that improve mental health treatment efforts while also assisting business growth.

Daniil Andreev is an efficient product manager with more than 6 years of experience in the VR industry, with a strong emphasis on developing and scaling products of mental health and education fields.

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