Skip to content
Home » BLOG » VIRTUAL REALITY FOR MENTAL HEALTH . How does it work?

VIRTUAL REALITY FOR MENTAL HEALTH . How does it work?

A psychologist, Barbara Rothbaum did a study using Virtual Reality. He studied how VR could help treat psychological disorders like phobias. After the experiment, one of his students, Chris Klock who had fear of heights before the experiment was able to conquer it.

What do you know Virtual Reality for?

Perhaps you’ve known it for video games, medical training, movies etc. Of course VR is used for the aforementioned things, but what if I told you that Virtual reality could be used to treat glossophobia(fear of public speaking) or fear of heights. It could also help treat anxiety and depression which are among the problems we have in the world today.

The global human population reached 7.97 billion in August. And about 13% of this same population are facing mental health and substance use disorders. So many people are still trying to survive the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. Although there are anxiolytic/antidepressant drugs and coping strategies already existing, combining them with Virtual reality therapy would be an added advantage.Because people connect more to visuals than physical activities or drugs.

Barbara Rothbaum conducted a study using Virtual Reality,to know how it would help treat psychological disorders. He used 17 students for the studies. After the studies, one of his students, Chris Klock who had the fear of heights was able to conquer that fear both physically and virtually.

This was confirmed when he could stare down a 20-storey balcony and ascended about 48 floors in a glass elevator virtually. Also he ascended a real glass elevator to the topmost floor.

Most Clinicians these days use VR for exposure therapy,example; keeping a person with glossyphobia in front of thousands of people to speak or keeping a person with the fear of heights at the edge of a cliff, virtually.

How does Virtual Reality work?

There are different components of VR that make it possible to mimic an environment and confer those ‘real’ feelings we experience in the virtual world. Some of these components includes;

1.Field of View and frame rate:

Virtual Reality mimics our field of view.VR headset covers Field of view up to 180 degrees, although humans have a wider Field of view. This is the reason behind the immersive experience with VR. Users see themselves immersed in a new environment.

By covering your field of view, the VR headset dictates and mimics your current environment . While the frame rate dictates the pace at which the headset mimics what you see in real life.

2.Immersive audio and sound effect:

Just like Virtual Reality immerses one in a new environment, it requires also a spatial audio or a 360 degrees sound to cover the neww environment and make the feeling more real.This sound effect also aid in the direction of movement in the virtual world.

3.Position and Head Tracking:

The above are measured in degrees of freedom, allowing a 6 or 3 degree of freedom. These degrees of freedom help show the positions and directions the head is pointed towards. Sensors on the other hand ensure safety during movement. The position and head tracking qualities, aids VR users to move around and engage with the environment.

CONCLUSION

As the world keeps evolving, VR technology keeps getting better and more interesting. The versions keep getting sophisticated and better as the year goes by. Certainly, in years to come, Virtual Reality simulation would be an indispensable tool in every hospital not just in psychiatric hospitals and rehabilitation centers. If you’re a medical professional be part of this Tech revolution, by signing up to our waitlist and enjoy 50% discount as a new user

2 thoughts on “VIRTUAL REALITY FOR MENTAL HEALTH . How does it work?”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *