Is VR the Future of Psychology?
Explore how Virtual Reality has been changing how individuals access mental health services.
Albeit receiving fame in recent years, virtual reality has been around for quite some time now; our ability to create an alternate world in our minds is also a kind of virtual reality. But these fantastical worlds are not what comes to mind when we say virtual reality. Computer games, headsets, or avatars are just a few things that you may have thought of since you began reading this article.
Virtual reality makes the intangible tangible. In fact, accessibility to these virtual worlds is increasingly integrated into our everyday lives. You can find virtual reality being used in various domains from training sessions to arcade games. But it is not just limited to educational and entertainment settings rather there has been an increase in making use of virtual reality in the field of healthcare. This particular article considers the use of virtual reality and how it affects the future of Psychology.
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What Is Virtual Reality?
Virtual Reality (VR) refers to an artificial 3D environment that is often simulated using computer modelling in which individuals can explore and interact with their surroundings in a way that mirrors reality. Contrary to traditional user interfaces, VR provides individuals with an immersive experience frequently all of their senses. Before we consider how VR integrates with Psychology, it is important to be aware of the different types of VR namely non-immersive, semi-immersive and fully immersive.
Non-Immersive: This VR experience is extremely common and users generally do not consider it to be VR. In other words, in non-immersive VR, individuals still remain conscious of their real surroundings when interacting with a simulated environment. An example of this is video games where although gamers are super engrossed in the universe of the game, they are still able to distinguish the game and reality.
Semi-Immersive: The second type of VR provides a user with a partially immersive experience with the virtual world, allowing them to interact with 3D images but the experience is not sensitive to head or body movements which usually tend to be associated with full immersion. Simulations used for pilot training are examples of this type of VR.
Fully Immersive: This kind of VR completely immerses the user in a virtual world frequently engaging all our senses. Individuals are typically required to use a headset that removes all visual stimuli from the real world, relaying a video to each eye allowing for depth perception and these 3D videos being relayed change according to the movement of the individuals.
Having explored the foundations of VR we can only fathom the diverse areas its features can be applied. However, within the context of Psychology research has more often than not remained focused on semi-immersive and fully immersive VR. With that being said, henceforth in the article the term VR will be used to refer to semi- and fully immersive VR.
What Is VR’s Role in Psychology?
The use of VR is not just limited to technology or entertainment, it is also being used as a tool in psychological research as early as the 1960s. VR has been considered to be a promising instrument that will help researchers overcome limitations regarding replicability, ecological validity and experimental control. Moreover, making use of VR has given psychologists the opportunity to ‘think outside the box’ by being able to carry out research that could not be carried out in reality.
The use of VR, however, transcends the confines of a laboratory and also has been used in the context of healthcare. VR is being employed by researchers to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of clinical conditions ranging from pain management to social anxiety to Alzheimer’s’ disease. For example, a combination of robotics and VR is used to aid in the recovery of individuals who have suffered from a stroke. Although many of these are still being carried out in research labs, some integrations are slowly making their way to hospitals and/or therapists’ offices. The next section will look at the use of Virtual Reality Therapy (VRT) within the context of mental health in particular.
Can VR Be Used in Therapy?
VRT, as you have probably guessed by now, is the use of VR and traditional talk therapy in combination to aid in the treatment process of a given mental health illness. One common type of VRT is Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET), which immerses an individual in very realistic albeit simulated environments. The aim of VRET is to reduce the intensity of stress responses elicited in individuals when they are exposed to scenarios which trigger feelings of anxiety or fear in them in a safe and controlled environment.
For example, if an individual has a fear of flying, they can use VRET to simulate the take-off and landing of a plane without ever stepping inside one. This would, of course, take place in the presence of a licensed mental health professional who will collaborate with the individual to determine the pace and intensity of the session. VRET is a research-backed therapy approach, with studies indicating that it is an effective treatment tool for people with dentophobia (fear of dentists). Similarly, some studies have also found that individuals diagnosed with both PTSD and depression respond better to VRET than to other treatment methods. These findings highlight the effectiveness of using VRET as part of an individual’s treatment plan.
What Are the Pros and Cons of Using Virtual Reality Therapy?
Like all treatment tools, using VR as a tool in mental health practices can have both advantages and disadvantages, which we will discuss in this section.
a. Pros
1. Cost Effective
As VR becomes more popular, VRET becomes more accessible, with some VR equipment costing as little as $5 and $300 only! Of course, the cost of creating a simulated environment is significantly less expensive than recreating a scenario in reality.
2. Long-Term Results
VRET can have lasting effects on individuals. Various studies suggest that VRET can have long-term benefits for individuals suffering from different kinds of phobias with the intensity of stress levels remaining the same even a year after completing their sessions. Furthermore, it gives people the skills and confidence to face their triggers in the real world.
3. Customisation
VRET can be tailored to the specific goals of the individual during their sessions. This allows for an accurate environment to be developed based on the individual’s triggers, which can then be controlled based on the intensity of their responses.
b. Cons
1. Accessibility & Choice
The software and hardware for VR are not readily available for all mental health practitioners, limiting the number of people who can make use of VR as a tool in their therapy sessions. At the same time for the mental health professional, it poses a challenge as there is an exponential increase in the number of VR-related products, making it difficult to ensure that you are making the right choice to aid the sessions
2. Lack of Research
Despite the fact that there has been a lot of research on the use of VR in therapy, most of it has been confined to specific mental health illnesses such as PTSD, anxiety and phobias. This makes it difficult to determine whether the benefits of VRT can be applied to all mental health disorders or only a limited subset
Though there is still a long way to go before the use of VR becomes common practice in mental health care, it certainly has shown its value in being used in combination with traditional therapy. It allows individuals to control how much they expose themselves to a trigger without simply having to be exposed to them in the real world. VR has the potential to become a mainstream form of practice in mental health, but only time will tell.
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