How Virtual Reality Is Being Used to Deliver Mental Health Care
From: Australian Broadcasting Corporation - 10/11/2016
By: Michael Collett

The potential of virtual reality (VR) to help deliver mental health care has
long been known.

Scientists around the world are starting to use virtual reality (VR)
technology as part of mental health care. So far, the main use of VR has been
in the area of exposure therapy for phobias and anxieties, according to Greg
Wadley at Australia's University of Melbourne. For example, Wadley says
commercially available VR headsets can put users in front of a virtual crowd,
enabling them to confront their fear of public speaking in a controlled
environment. Wadley also is working with a youth mental health clinic to
develop VR treatments for young people suffering from psychosis and
depression. The technology is designed to be used with the guidance of
professionals, and Wadley says VR can help people overcome the two main
limitations of in-person therapy - cost and accessibility. Meanwhile,
University of Oxford researchers in the UK are helping people with paranoia
deal with difficult social situations such as encountering strangers in
crowded spaces. "Patients who fully tested out their fears in virtual reality
were later much less distressed even when in a real-world situation, such as
going to the local shop," the Oxford researchers note.

Read the entire article and view a video (4:34) at:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-12/how-technologies-like-vr-are-being-used-to-improve-mental-health/7921002

Links:
Greg Wadley
http://people.eng.unimelb.edu.au/gwadley

When help is just a touch away
https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/when-help-is-just-a-touch-away

Not related:
Falling in love without words (with video 3:51)
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-12/modern-love-tony-and-angie/7926148