In the past few years, we have noticed a significant modification in dealing with mental health, where the stigma is removed, and innovative ways are embraced. Virtual reality, an innovative and newest tool, has made huge strides in every interactive experience because it puts users in the heart of the action, with incredibly convincing proper environmental settings.
VR was initially used only for games and entertainment, but now it is also a very important element of therapy and one's self-discovery journey.
In today's context, VR is fully referred to as a computer-generated environment experienced through a head-mounted display (HMD), which tricks the brain into thinking that it's physically there in the world created by a computer. This attribute makes it an ideal virtual reality conducive to educational, sports, and mental health applications, among others.
Users of this technology can be in their rooms and still go up to the farthest mountain peak, roam the depths of the ocean, or even feel the tranquillity at the meadow—these environments specifically designed to promote relaxation, exposure therapy, and emotional regulation. Day by day, technological breakthroughs in VR are extending clinical and everyday mental health management applications to new levels.
For instance, virtual reality therapy is a method used for Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET) which, by placing participants in a controlled environment, can help them to face their fears and hence to learn the ways of anxiety, fears, and PTSD management.
For instance, the one afraid of flying can first be gently exposed to virtual airport check-ins, take-offs, and flights, which are possible steps to the settings that build resilience in a safe and controlled way.
The rest use cases are:
(1) Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): VR-based tools allow patients to simulate stressful situations and utilize relaxation exercises. Henceforth, emotional regulation is achieved.
(2) Pain Management: It has been observed that gaming and virtual reality sequences lessen pain perception during medical treatments.
(3) Research & Assessment: A method of virtual reality technology, which is the creation of controlled environments to observe behavioral under a specific stimulus for instance, better diagnosis and treatment processes.
In these particular cases, the advantages of using VR are very substantial, including more patient control and verifiable outcomes in the therapeutic sessions.
The VR tool features allow for the areas where the virtual world replicates the real world to be changed by therapists. The great advantage is that the psychologist can dose the coherence or the deceleration in the progression of the exposure in a manner that patients can withstand with maximal therapeutic gain a way forward.
Remote access through VR headsets to patients who live in rural areas or areas where therapy is hardly accessible is a great advantage. It appears that patients become much more engaging and open during their sessions with the help of VR, which in turn has higher virtuality.
Can you imagine taking a trip to Iceland, sitting, or maybe walking through a special secluded forest? Well, if that happens, you can do it without leaving your room. This is exactly what virtual reality meditation is all about.
VR environment in the therapy setting benefits the patients in the following ways:
(1) Reduced distractions
(2) Improved emotional regulation
(3) Visualization by visual and auditory cues
(4) Positive self-reflection
A study from Frontiers in Psychology tells us that the old people who were participating in Virtual Reality-based Mindfulness had a reduction of loneliness and emotional improvement. These findings show the rewarding effects of the VR use in the therapeutic context when it is wisely applied.
On the flipside, even though VR is a pioneering technology harbouring numerous advantages it faces several barriers such as:
(1) High setup costs Risk of simulator sickness
(2) Digital burnout
On the other hand, developments in terms of cost and accessibility of VR technology and improvement in the apps to make them more user-friendly will enable wide-reaching access to the virtual reality experience and benefits in various areas of life.
Healthcare facilities are starting to support VR therapy trials, and tech companies are doing more to make their VR headsets more user-friendly and ergonomically designed.
Our belief at Transform Happily is that one should not be afraid to break out of his/her comfort zone. VR is not only for playing, but it also offers a great healing opportunity that brings people to peace. The advantages of VR are enormous, from the AI fear of flight to the profound peace of the patients brought by VR and obtaining valid results of these tests.
As a clinician, I have always been fascinated by new techniques that are emerging in psychology. My engagement with VR started in Amsterdam, where I attended a wellness conference. I was in a VR headset and suddenly in the middle of a Japanese forest with snow falling. The falling snow, the crackling fire, and the singing birds sounded extremely realistic, and I immediately felt calm.
Later, I introduced VR into my therapy sessions. In one particular case, Sarah, a young woman with profound social anxiety, came to see me. Conventional treatments had limited success until she started VR exposure therapy. Sarah could function in digital settings that she identified as being safe, from chatting to holding interviews for a job.
On a couple of occasions, Sarah achieved one-month milestones that she hadn't thought she would hit, and at the end of the therapy, she attended a friend's wedding, an accomplishment that was beyond her imagination.
Beyond anxiety, the benefits of virtual reality is that it is also being used in the treatment of Depression. As part of mental health interventions, participants can take part in virtual gardening or virtual painting to improve mood.
(1) Addiction: Virtual simulations allow to expose the user to their triggers and to give them the means to rehearse coping strategies.
(2) Psychosis: Technologies such as "Avatar Therapy" help schizophrenic patients converse with virtual entities that resemble their auditory hallucinations, thus lowering the impact of the symptoms.
All of them represent distinct examples of how VR therapy took increased application as a psychological treatment.
Several studies have substantiated the therapeutic effectiveness of VR over real life. According to a 2021 article in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, VR mindfulness applications users achieved higher focus and lower mental and emotional anxiety levels. In turn, the full sensory engagement offered by the VR device that lets users get in their meditative states faster gets them full security of the body.
For example, the participants of a VR forest bath report lessening cortisol levels, better sleep, and less emotional exhaustion. The advantages that virtual reality brings are universal, enhancing mental detachment as well as ensuring the recovery related to feelings.
Nevertheless, the mischievous face of the virtual reality in the domain of relaxation requires some solid and understandable ethical and practical developments respectively.
Firstly, therapists must achieve specific training in VR-based interventions, and mental health apps should follow safety procedures. On a larger scale, the mutual work of the tech producers and mental health specialists has made the virtual reality a tool (one of the benefits of virtual reality) that is now used in many places around the world.
In India, for example, the local startup companies are manufacturing affordable VR kits to catalyze the idea of mental health help in the remote areas.
No topic potentiality may be absent from the scope of virtual reality in mental health, in fact, the featuring advantages of VR are the real driving force behind the evolution of mental health services. As virtual tools develop, virtual reality has become a household name among therapists, educators, and people of all ages.
From therapy found in virtual environments to mindfulness session held in virtual forests, virtual reality is a new way to the port of self-awareness and healing. In this way, technology is already having an impact on humans' hearts, revealing its true power to uplift the souls despite the fact sometimes the natural world can be less pleasant, but the virtual world is there for us to help us find the balance we are seeking for.
Explore our therapy services by visiting Transform Happily's official website, or if you need more insights on various blogs like mental health, mental wellness, and posts similar to virtual reality mental therapy, you can visit our blog page.
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