The Impact of Virtual Reality (VR) Therapy on Anxiety Disorders

Exposure Therapy in Virtual Reality

VR therapy is useful in managing anxiety disorders, where it is used as an adjunct to applied exposure therapy. This technique has been widely used in anxiety disorders. Cognitive exposure assists people in confronting their fears immediately so that they can alleviate their anxiety reactions. Originally, this method consisted of closing eyes and picturing a scenario that scares an individual or directly confronting a scary scenario. However, VR therapy presents a third choice which is exposure to fears within the virtual world (Anderson & Anthony., 154). This is useful because the option can mimic the actual feared stimuli or situation in the three-dimensional environment. For instance, persons suffering from claustrophobia can be taken through a virtual exposure of a flight where they feel the actual effects of taking off, turbulence, and even landing without ever being out of the therapist’s office.

Previous research has indicated that CBT, with the use of virtual reality technology, is as efficient as conventional exposure techniques at treating several anxiety disorders, including phobias, PTSD, and social anxiety. Net effects of VR interventions in anxiety disorders that were established had a 90 % confidence level, similar to outcomes resulting from in vivo exposure therapy (Anderson & Anthony, 156). At the same time, VR therapy is more effective than traditional approaches in some cases because exposure can be performed more in a controlled, frequent, and individualized manner. For example, ER included the ability to reach Millspaugh’s exact degree of difficulty or intensity desired for an exposure scenario recreated in VR therapy, allowing for easier observation and modification of therapy by therapists to suit a patient's response.

In addition, VR exposure therapy does not have real-life exposure problems, including the search for an appropriate environment or potential practical limitations of creating appropriate scenarios. For example, a person with agoraphobia is capable of feeling that they are walking through a large mall without actually having to physically go through it (Schröder et al., 6). This makes VR therapy a very versatile technique of increasing utility in anxiety disorders that center on exposure-based treatments.

Increased Accessibility and Cost-Effectiveness

Consequently, VR therapy seems advantageous as it can help make mental therapy more affordable and accessible. Mental health is still strained compared to physical health, as the specialty is limited across the nation, especially in rural and inadequately staffed areas. Specialist conventional therapy usually entails several physical meetings with the patient, which is time-consuming and expensive (Emmelkamp et al., 7). VR therapy, however, reduces some of these barriers because the kind of treatment it provides could be more flexible than the conventional therapy that must be given physically.

In today’s world, with the availability of cheap VR devices and accessories like VR headsets and mobile applications, a person can perform therapy at home under the strict installment of a therapist. Telehealth platforms, which have become popular because of COVID-19, can be used for remote VR therapy sessions. This flexibility means that people who may be restricted by geographical location, disability, or other circumstances from attending in-person sessions can still be treated effectively (Wu, 18). The possibility of receiving therapy online also eliminates the prejudice that is usually inherent in the attraction of such services, and people with mental health issues can participate in them at home.

Furthermore, integrated virtual reality therapy appears to promise lower overall treatment costs. VR therapy offers better effectiveness by reducing the need for several face-to-face sessions and allowing the client to have shorter but more crisp interventions. Due to the very nature of VR therapy, the patient may be able to move forward faster to a specific stage of therapy compared to what he or she might be able to experience normally (Van Loenen et al., 22). Though the initial cost of acquiring the VR gear may be steep, it will act as a return on investment since clients may not need to attend sessions for a long time, and it will be an opportunity to address more clients via teletherapy mode.

Safe and Controlled Environment for Patients

Another impact of VR therapy is that it delivers a controlled setting where patients can face their fears. One of the issues that is inherent in the so-called traditional exposure therapy is that an attempt to recreate actual life scenarios could be uncontrollable or distressing and can lead to the patients dropping out of the therapy. The difference is that VR therapy is a much more realistic experience and seems to give patients anxiety-inducing situations, but can be manipulated by a therapist (Van Loenen et al., 32). This control enables the therapists to safely lead the patients through the feared situations while not putting them through unnecessary additional danger or discomfort.

For instance, patients with social phobia may perform virtual speeches where the size and the activity of the virtual audience can be changed depending on the patient’s desire. Likewise, the survivors of PTSD can encounter traumatic info or places that make them uncomfortable in a virtual environment and work through them with a therapist’s guidance (Andersen et al., 46). In a virtual environment, the patient can begin the virtual reality scenarios, stop them halfway, or even decrease the impact of such a case that overwhelms or re-traumatizes the patient.

In conclusion, virtual reality therapy is another major improvement in the management of anxiety disorders. Used in exposure therapy, patients can engage with what scares them in the comfort of a clinician’s office, and its ability to make mental health care affordable is a major point. In addition, the nature of scientific practice immunizes them to possible risks through the utilization of virtually real environments that do not pose any real threat to them as they tend to face their anxieties. Over time, with continuous advancements in VR technology, this will be a presentation of more hope for people who are suffering from anxiety disorders because they can get the help they need from VR therapy. Thus, VR therapy not only supplements the existing range of therapeutic interventions but also expands the range of possibilities for individual and innovative treatment approaches to psychological disorders.