Virtual Reality Can Help Treat Severe Paranoia
From: Medical Design Technology - 05/05/2016

Virtual reality can help treat severe paranoia by allowing people to face
situations that they fear, an Oxford University study with patients from the
Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust has found. The virtual reality simulations
allowed the patients to learn that the situations (such as a crowded lift
[elevator]) they feared were actually safe.

Thirty patients attending treatment services at Oxford Health NHS Foundation
Trust took part in the study. All the patients went into virtual reality
simulations with increasing numbers of computer characters ('avatars') –
seeing many people at the same time would normally make these patients quite
anxious. But participants were told that by staying in the situations, they
would relearn that they were safe. A train ride and a lift scene were used.

Virtual reality has been used to treat a number of psychological disorders.
It has several major advantages over exposing patients to a real-life
situation. Peoples’ minds and bodies react as they would in the real world
but, because the patients know the situation is artificial, they are much
more confident about trying out different psychological techniques. They can
gradually build up the difficulty level of the situations so that learning
can be made at a manageable pace.

Read the entire article and view a video (4:34) at:
http://www.mdtmag.com/news/2016/05/virtual-reality-can-help-treat-severe-paranoia
http://www.oxfordhealth.nhs.uk/news/oxford-study-finds-virtual-reality-can-help-treat-severe-paranoia

Links:
Daniel Freeman
http://www.psych.ox.ac.uk/team/daniel-freeman
http://www.univ.ox.ac.uk/univ-people/professor-daniel-freeman

Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust
http://www.oxfordhealth.nhs.uk