Anxiety in the Virtual Space

Anxiety in the Virtual Space. Immersive Therapy.

Is it Possible for Virtual Reality to Alleviate Anxiety Within the Community?.

The first thing I noticed while doing my research was that using virtual reality to alleviate stressors by addressing them at the core by putting the individual in a virtual situation where they could control their interactions. Having this ability (like one would do a smoker trying to quit or a veteran with PTSD) helps through a slow process of exposure instead of just throwing the afflicted person out into the busy streets of New York and saying “good luck”. Through slow exposure in a safe, controlled and monitored environment, someone with an anxiety disorder can find ways to cope for a multitude of situations..

SOCIAL. More often than not, anxiety disorders have a low probability of remission after being treated. However, anxiety is also a major cause of phobias. While some Methods to treat phobias and, with-it, anxiety can be straight forward and more involved with gradually exposing one's self to the object of fear, some methods also include simply avoiding the subject in question depending on the person..

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. The most wide-spread method of treatment is called cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). This method is mainly used to cognitively create a different perspective of the object or situation causing fear. Consequently, patients should change their thoughts and behavior towards the influence of the phobia upon their lives (Soeter and Kindt 2016). As you may know, CBT is a form of cognitive therapy which shows how fear can be influenced by the pessimistic thoughts and behaviors of someone’s mentality.

Controlled Virtual Reality Environments. The next method is through Virtual reality (VR) is a technological interface that allows users to experience computer-generated environments within a controlled setting. This form of technological interface has been making itself more and more relevant in the modern age and is used in the context of mental health treatment and within clinical research. VR, similar to in vivo, is well suited for use in exposure-based treatment for anxiety disorders since it creates a sense of immersion within the feared environment..

There have been numerous studies performed and the results have been very heartening. Virtual reality-primarily based interventions have been extraordinarily successful for anxiety disorders, due to the fact this technology stimulates a completely unique way of engaging in situations and provokes not only a natural reaction from its customers but can then be used to find step by step solutions to counteract those anxiety causing issues (Dascalu, Moldoveanu & Shudayfat 2014)..

Applications. SPIDERWORLD. A virtual space created in order to help manage arachnophobia.

2022 2020 2019 2017 2015 2014. virtual reality seems to be taking on anxiety (something that was once believed to be nearly incurable by users) is now granting the freedom of a more normal life for people who once suffered from social anxiety to phobias..