Does therapy need a change?

isabellaperrin97
Jan 2, 2018
3 min read

Whether you are suffering from a mental health condition, undiagnosed or worried you're experiencing symptoms of a condition the first steps you should take is to simply talk about it.

In 2017, BBC Radio 1 launched a mental health campaign- #MyMindAndMe to get people 'to talk about what is going on inside your head'. It was a year long project, giving young people a platform to express their mental health worries or conditions whilst offering advice and support and talking to celebrities.

Giving mental health more awareness is something we should all step up too. Even if its talking to your friends and family, or offering your support to those that you feel are in need and that you're worried about. But what next? The steps after talking about mental health is to seek help and most commonly people will seek therapy.

In the UK, the NHS offer hundreds of services for people to easily access online and in person. For mental conditions such as depression, anxiety or in Katy's case Borderline Personality Disorder, you will be eligible for Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).

The NICE (The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) guidelines shows that CBT is the most commonly used therapy for the treatment of these disorders. For Katy, she has battled to find the right therapist for her because she explained that a lot of the time "they do not understand how I exactly feel." She feels that this is a common thing found with misunderstanding symptoms with therapists and their patients.

Virtually Better conducted a twitter poll and found this:

Despite only 8 votes, 88% said its a good idea for therapists to use Virtual Reality as a way of better understanding peoples symptoms. This is clearly something that people feel could really be useful for a change in mental health care because for Katy, she has felt that through the use of VR she was able to explain exactly what goes on inside her head in ways just talking to her therapist cant.

Perhaps an idea is to capture the video of the virtual reality experience you are in. By using Google's Tilt Brush tool- Katy found that she was able to draw our a storm cloud overshadowing her body. She explained this symptom as her crippling anxiety and everything piling on at once. If a therapist was able to experience that too then he/ she would be able to get a better understanding of what Katy is going through and therefore could find better ways of communication and treatment for her.

Likewise, a lot of people told me that even approaching a therapist and opening up to a complete stranger can be extremely difficult. So the ability to present their mental disorder in virtual reality can be a step forward for mental health care.

I don't think it can work?

Some people feel that therapy is fine as it is, and most common methods used have proven to be successful for them. Using technology as a form of therapy or involved in therapy presents ethical challenges. It can be quite intrusive and emotionally upsetting to put someone in an experience that may trigger their mental health condition so controlling its use must be considered. A person with depression with the symptom of being in a black space may find putting on a virtual headset triggering in itself so perhaps assessments need to be taken first before putting someone in a virtual environment.

The result as a whole is that therapy already available to patients is a useful thing in itself and anyone who thinks they're suffering in silence should definitely go and speak to a GP. At first, you may find it overwhelming and the worst experience in the world but eventually it gets a lot better. Of course, not every Doctor or therapist gets it right and for some people it takes time to find the right one for you. There is a gap in mental health care and technology being used together. Already apps such as Sea Hero Quest have been developed to map out a person who has dementia their navigation skills. Virtual Reality can be a potential platform for people to use to express their symptoms in a way simply talking about cannot achieve.

If you have been affected by this article, visit the advice page here