How can Virtual Reality change the mental state of Psychological health care?

isabellaperrin97
Nov 27, 2017
2 min read

Some of us maybe unsure as to how Virtual Reality can be a therapy for people with mental health disorders. Virtually Better conducted a Twitter Poll and even though 25% voted- the turnout shows that 44% of people are really interested in this technology but 32% are unsure as to how it would work.

Virtual reality is a 'niche' topic in our society. It is booming in the games industry with Playstation VR and Google's Tilt Brush but its still a little unknown in health care. Researchers are taking on study after study to discover just how this technology can work in mental health and for some mental diseases it has proven successful. Take a look at this piece by the Guardian which explains how Virtual reality can be a game-changer for mental health.

Talking about mental health is no longer a taboo. The scale of these disorders is no longer a secret. We currently know that 1 in 4 people will experience a mental health issue at some point in their life. Mental illnesses cost the UK Economy £28 billion every year- and that is excluding NHS costs. When it comes to funding, psychological disorders are very much the poor relation, receiving just 6% of medical research funding and 13% of NHS health expenditure. Treatment options have increased since 2007 via the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies scheme, but we’re still a long way from being able to provide timely treatment to everyone who needs it. So this is where Virtual reality can come in.

Here's an infographic with some stats:

The form of treatment that people receive is crucial. Therapists and counselling programmes can be effective for some people, but the most powerful changes happen when an individual is presented with a situation that causes them distress and directly learn how to think, feel and behave more constructively. That means getting out of the GPs room and into the real world.

How would VR work?

The answer lies in VR’s extraordinary ability to create powerful simulations of the scenarios in which psychological difficulties occur. Suddenly there’s no need for a therapist to accompany someone with anxiety on a trip to a crowded shopping centre or up a tall building. Situations that are more or less impossible to build into a course of therapy — flying, for example, or the shocking events that often lie behind PTSD — can be conjured at the click of a mouse. The in-situ coaching that’s so effective for so many disorders can now be delivered in the consulting room, with the simulations graded in difficulty and repeated as often as necessary.

The thought of facing your fears and experiencing difficult situations in which your disorder will hold you back on can be highly off putting for people. But as Virtual Reality isn't real that distance tends to disappear. So the idea of using this as a therapeutic tool can be very appealing for people.

If you want to find out more info, check out: Virtually Better's twitter feed