the name.make me thinking, how can you rehab someone using virtual technology? Is this can make shrink job is no longer necessery?
Hello yanetriwidia,
Hope you are well and thank you for this great question.
Virtual Reality has actually been used since 1994 by Kaiser Permanente to treat acrophobics (people who are afraid of heights) and they were over 90% successful. It was then used to treat military combat personnel who returned from Iraq and Afghanistan with PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Discorder) and they were over 75% successful. The only reason Virtual Reality did not take off was because it was too expensive back then. However, now, it is more affordable.
As for rehab, there has been plenty of research conducted by leading universities, which I include at the end of this message, which demonstrate that the use of Virtual Reality has a great positive impact on avoiding relapse post therapy. This is further proved by our work, which has demonstrated that 87% of participating patients have shown an overall improvement across various metrics within the following categories:
1- Problem Recognition & Acceptance
2- Openness to Change
3- Locus of Control
4- Decision-Making Influences
5- Emotional Intelligence & Regulation
6- Motivation & Resilience
How is this being done?
Using what we call Cognitive Behavior and Exposure Therapy (CBT), where a user/patient is presented with cues/triggers that challenge their temptations. The user initially shows through the data we collect (heart rate, blood pressure, eye-tracking, and biodermal activity) that they are surely impacted by viewing alcohol or drugs when they are present in their environment or when they see someone consuming them. However, the more and more the user repeats these programs, the less they become impacted by the presence of these substances. Hence, through these programs, the user/patient becomes more psychologically aware and his or her mind adjusts to what is right from what is wrong. CBT is also a proven therapy, which has been used for many years.
Kindly find below some of the researches which has been conducted around this topic as well:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5729140/https://teens.drugabuse.gov/blog/post/virtual-reality-and-drug-abuse-treatmenthttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28570305https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3125915/https://www.drugrehab.com/2016/02/11/virtual-reality-used-for-addiction-ptsd-treatment/https://www.ncadd.org/blogs/in-the-news/virtual-reality-tested-for-heroin-addiction-treatmenthttps://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/ezvpaj/virtual-reality-is-being-used-to-treat-heroin-addictionThanks again for your question. Much appreciated.
Regards