Have you heard of Virtual Reality in games and movies? VR technology has recently gained popularity in healthcare through Virtual Reality Therapy. It enables providers to engage patients and improve their quality of life by surrounding them with immersive and interactive experiences. Let’s unlock its potential!
VR therapy is a revolutionary technology for mental health care as this treatment tool takes you to a computer-stimulated world. Whether it is to detach from the existing fears, learn new skills or remove social anxiety, this tool can significantly help.
Many healthcare providers are revolutionizing VR therapies to replace conventional treatment methods for people with mental health problems. VR is mainly used as a supportive treatment plan. It is also crucial to cognitive behavioural therapy for skill enhancement in the real world.
Several findings and studies indicate that VR therapy is proven effective in managing severe health issues like depression, anxiety, fears or post-traumatic stress disorder.
VR Therapy involves the virtual world or stimulating virtual scenarios as a therapeutic tool to achieve mental health. The gear headset stimulates you towards an interactive and immersive experience, helping you achieve a better life. Through such therapies, one can experience situations that are next to real and even fight with phobias by encountering scary scenarios.
Therapists use Virtual Reality Therapy to deal with real-life challenges, witness a past event, and let people release their emotions in a controlled environment.
Virtual Reality Therapy helps people suffering from mental blocks express themselves or revisit the moment to act like they wish to. It is situations and fears which pile up to result in mental barriers, causing severe mental issues like phobias or depression.
As the environment is free from real-world risks, your VR therapists can better manage your reactions and boost your confidence. Confronting a past phobia can be painful in the VR world, but it could also be a life-changing moment.
Virtual Reality perfectly treats mental health issues by removing the gap between the real world and the imagination.
VR is now widely used for exposure therapy by experts to deal with phobias making people scared. It includes the patient’s exposure to the fear of the VR world with manageable steps and obtaining consent. This might also be possible at times without VR, but the risk factors are high.
Being claustrophobic, having Aerophobia, or having social phobia needs facing similar situations while eliminating the risk factors of treatment. This is where VR exposure therapy comes into the picture and deals with minor fears, like going for a blood test or taking injections.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a common mental health concern that is manageable with using controlled VR therapies. A comparison study was done to identify the effects of VR exposure therapy vs no treatment, and the benefits of this therapy were evident even after 3 months.
People dealing with PTSD tend to self-harm in extreme scenarios, and such VR therapies can prevent from worsening the situation.
VR therapy is also widely applicable for managing various emotional and social skills. Many people lack confidence in talking to seniors or asking a boss for an appraisal. Such therapies guided by experts can help develop a new skill set.
Several research studies indicate that VR holds the potential to manage different aspects of treatment for depression or anxiety. It can create awareness amongst people about mental health and enable patients to visualize CBT Techniques. VR Therapy can also prove effective in teaching self-compassion by simulating gardening or other soothing therapies.
VR therapy is about to be the next big thing for several reasons. Doctors and mental healthcare specialists are already witnessing the transformation. Here are a few reasons why VR Therapy is changing the face of mental health in today’s time.
VR can put patients in different scenarios and get precise results. It can enable clinicians to expose patients to everyday situations to support the diagnosis. Many advanced ways of testing symptoms have not evolved due to VR Technology. Such environments and tests are helping experts analyze realistic possibilities.
As VR technology costs are competitive, the trend of self-guided VR therapies is surging and could be included as self-help books. Individuals who cannot make time for customized mental health treatments can use VR therapy in their regime.
It can make therapy sessions handy, as you do not have to visit the psychiatrist’s office for them. Just a calm room with a VR headset and virtual therapist guidance is all you need. Isn’t it an affordable and time-savvy solution?
Not everyone can afford the best of therapists for various reasons, such as location or expenses. This results in a barrier for the patients who need help. Virtual Reality Therapy can break the wall, making the best services accessible to anyone.
It is proven to be more effective than video consultations. This can aid in connecting people dealing with mental health issues to experts who can guide them with targeted therapies, and all they need is a VR headset.
VR technology can release patients’ discomfort and anxiety during the diagnostic procedure. These centres use VR therapies to develop an immersive environment for patients with headsets to distract them during CT or MRI scans. Children who fear medical tests or behavioural therapies are also stimulated using VR technology.
VR therapies are more than a visual experience. They stimulate your sensory organs to react and ensure an interactive and immersive experience. Multisensory VR systems develop a realistic environment to maximize exposure therapy.
VR Therapies are eliminating the stigma that mental health is a taboo topic. Taking such therapies is no longer an embarrassment, and people are readily accepting the fact that they need help. Mental health has now become a very open topic, and people are adopting VR technology to take care of their well-being.
VR therapies are carried out in the same form as traditional psychotherapy. Expert therapists use headsets and devices to help patients overcome problematic issues. Some people can buy these gear for self-care, or renting options are also available. Clinicians and mental health advocates fully support these therapies.
VR therapies can simulate situations that allow people to learn different skills and combat their fears in a safe environment. It was earlier only used to treat people with phobias, but its usability is now evident in various health conditions.
Making use of Virtual Reality therapies can be overwhelming for people dealing with severe anxiety issues, and it is essential to get it done under the guidance of an experienced practitioner only. VR technology is slowly integrating into various healthcare verticals and even reaching homes for self-improvement.
It’s time to accept VR with open arms and make a difference in people’s mental health with efficacy. If your life is tossing your brain on issues like career or relationships and hampering your quality of life, VR therapies can be a great approach to head off.
You need to look for a qualified mental health therapist who can analyze the situation and provide the right VR solutions!
