The Use of Interventions Based On Virtual Reality in The Treatment of Anxiety

Volume 8, Issue 1, January – 2023 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology
ISSN No:-2456-2165
The Use of Interventions Based on Virtual

Reality in the Treatment of Anxiety
Ramagiri Nivas Komuravelli Vasanth
Department Computer Science and Engineering, Department Computer Science and Engineering,
Chandigarh University. Punjab, India Chandigarh University. Punjab, India
Sheikh Owais Aaman

Department of Computer Science and Engineering,
SRM Institute of Science and Technology. Chennai, India
Abstract:- With the development of virtual reality (VR) referral, may benefit from the accessibility offered by virtual
technology has come the advent of virtual reality (VR) reality therapy. This can encourage them to seek help from a
therapy for anxiety disorders. Because it is more effective professional. The purpose of this special issue was to get an
than waitlist therapy and has an efficacy that is understanding of the benefits and limitations of VR treatment
comparable to that of in vivo exposure therapy, virtual in terms of alleviating the symptoms of anxiety. Anxiety is
reality therapy can be considered a viable psychological caused by the perception of an impending danger (Penninx et
intervention. Those individuals who are less likely to al., 2021; Hamm, 2020). Anxiety is defined as "muscle
participate in face-to-face therapy, as well as those with tension and attention in preparation for potential danger and
mild-to-moderate and/or subclinical levels of anxiety who careful avoidance behaviour," and both of these
may not reach the threshold for clinical referral, may characteristics are seen in anxious people (American
benefit from the accessibility offered by virtual reality Psychiatric Association, 2013). Anxiety consists of both a
therapy. This can encourage them to seek help from a mental component, such as the dread that the worst-case
professional. The purpose of this special issue was to gain scenario may occur, and a physiological component, such as
an understanding of the benefits and limitations of VR heightened arousal, perspiration, and the sense that one could
therapy in terms of alleviating the symptoms of anxiety. pass out (Creamer et al., 1995). The following are some of the
Anxiety is caused by the perception of an impending questions that were intended to be answered by this special
danger. The symptoms of anxiety include "muscle tension issue:
and vigilance in preparation for future danger and  In terms of theory, virtual reality treatment has been
cautious avoidance behaviour". Anxiety can also manifest shown to be effective for both severe and mild cases of
as a physical sensation in the body. Anxiety consists of anxiety.
both a mental component, such as the fear that the worst-  The effectiveness of virtual reality treatment in alleviating
case scenario will occur, and a physiological component, stress,
such as increased arousal, sweating, and the feeling that  The mechanisms of responsiveness to virtual reality
one might pass out. Understanding the theoretical treatment for anxiety reduction, and
significance of virtual reality therapy for clinical and sub-  The technical boundaries of VR treatment.
clinical levels of anxiety, the efficacy of virtual reality
therapy for reducing anxiety, the mechanisms of response II. THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS FOR THE
to virtual reality therapy for reducing anxiety, and the PRACTICE OF VIRTUAL-REALITY
technological limits of VR therapy were the goals of this THERAPY IN THE TREATMENT OF
special issue. ANXIETY
Keywords:- Attention Training, Presence, Cybersickness, The "wow" element of the technology may encourage
Relaxation, Pain. individuals to construct virtual worlds for therapeutic
applications in a way that is not contextualised, hence it is
I. INTRODUCTION imperative that research on virtual reality for anxiety
disorders be led by theory. An early randomised clinical trial
With the development of virtual reality (VR) technology used virtual reality for the treatment of a fear of heights
has come the introduction of virtual reality (VR) treatment for (Rothbaum et al., 1995). This trial relied on emotional
anxiety disorders. The fact that its effectiveness is greater to processing theory (Foa and Kozak, 1986), which suggests that
that of a waitlist and similar to that of in vivo exposure exposure therapy modulates a dysfunctional fear structure
therapy (Carl et al., 2019) makes virtual reality therapy a and provides information that is incompatible with the fear-
feasible option for psychiatric treatment. Those individuals associated memory. In this issue, Jerath and Beveridge rely
who are less likely to participate in face-to-face therapy, as on theories of the philosophy of mind and theories of global
well as those with mild-to-moderate and/or subclinical levels and spatial cognition to inspire future research on how virtual
of anxiety who may not reach the threshold for clinical reality might reduce anxiety through the development of
IJISRT23JAN370 www.ijisrt.com 126

ISSN No:-2456-2165
enormous virtual landscapes, such as gazing up at a bright sky important components of VR exposure treatment is paying
at night. The authors argue that anxiety is characterised by attention to a virtual core danger.
vicious loops that may be broken by transcendent experiences
produced in wide virtual settings, such as the universe, Additionally, there are physiological factors that might
employing slow deep breathing and biofeedback. [Citation change how one reacts to anxiety. In a virtual reality (VR)-
needed] [Citation needed] Exciting new avenues for research based relaxation training programme, Joeng et al.
into the advantages of transcending virtual experiences may investigated the effects that practising diaphragmatic
be opened up if virtual reality technology were to advance to breathing (DB, increasing breathing volume and allowing
the point where it could generate enormous areas using more air to the body) and progressive muscle relaxation
testable assumptions. (PMR, sequentially alternating muscle tension and
relaxation) exercises had on participants. When compared to
III. VIRTUAL-REALITY THERAPY'S EFFICACY a control group, individuals who trained in VR had
significantly reduced levels of stress following PMR. In the
In the absence of a therapist, VR technology shows VR group, DB was shown to reduce stress, especially when
potential for self-guided VR treatment in which the user has the participants were practising in potentially anxious virtual
complete control over increasing their exposure to danger outdoor surroundings. DB has a primary effect of enhancing
(Zainal et al., 2021; Premkumar et al.). Over two sessions of the parasympathetic response, in addition to enhancing
self-guided VR treatment, participants with significant self- sustained concentration and reducing negative emotion (Ma
reported public-speaking anxiety increased their exposure to et al., 2017). Therefore, the use of physiological procedures
changeable virtual hazards (Premkumar et al.). This as well as training aspects to promote extra coping
exploratory study's findings of persistent improvement in mechanisms might be beneficial to VR-based anxiety
public-speaking anxiety and social anxiety 1 month after the exposure treatments.
intervention show the long-term effects of self-guided VR
treatment. Where persistent physical sickness, such as cancer, V. TECHNOLOGICAL BASES FOR VIRTUAL-
causes anxiety, VR treatment may create pleasant virtual REALITY THERAPY
settings. According to MIND (2021), "spending time in green
space or incorporating nature into your daily life may help Cybersickness, such as dizziness and motion sickness,
both your mental and physical welfare" (Naor and Mayseless, has an impact on VR therapeutic participation and
2021). Wilson and Scorsone investigated the advantages of experience. Controlling for cybersickness in VR treatment
bringing patients closer to nature via immersive VR research is essential, and this necessitates the use of a
treatment, as well as creating happy emotions and lowering validated measure of cybersickness that separates
pain levels, in this context. Participants getting intravenous cybersickness from the target psychological symptoms of the
chemotherapy felt more peaceful, relaxed, and satisfied, as planned intervention. Bouchard et al. discovered that anxiety
well as less tense, after choosing from a broad choice of during stress exposure (the Trier Social Stress Test, study 2)
nature-inspired immersive audio-visual experiences to was confounded by cybersickness in addition to verifying the
encourage relaxation during treatment. This anxiety-reducing two-factor structure of the simulation-sickness questionnaire
effect of VR therapy during physical condition treatment is (SSQ, study 1). They discovered that the majority of SSQ
also true for other associated disorders, such as stroke items (11 out of 16) linked with state anxiety following stress
rehabilitation (Standen et al., 2017). exposure, and that these relationships were distributed
equally among the two SSQ variables. The SSQ score rose
IV. THE WORKINGS OF THE VIRTUAL- after stress exposure and before immersion in a virtual world.
REALITY THERAPY MECHANISM Thus, during the administration of VR treatment,
cybersickness may be misinterpreted with anxiety, and such
There is a pressing need to acquire a deeper and more symptoms must be accounted for when evaluating the
comprehensive understanding of the processes of anxiety effectiveness of VR therapy.
reduction that are applicable to VR therapy. Pfaller et al.
focused their attention on the function that social presence This special issue has highlighted the possibility for
plays in triggering emotional reactions during certain agent potentially significant VR therapeutic advances. The
social interactions in order to achieve this goal. As a result, potential for revolutionary VR treatments to merge virtual
changing one's social presence might result in therapies that wide open spaces, self-guided exposure and relaxation, while
are more successful in increasing one's ability to engage with improving social presence via attention training and resolving
others. Another method that virtual reality treatment uses is cybersickness, illustrates virtual reality's great potential.
attention training, which helps patients acquire control over
worried thoughts and feelings. Participants with high levels
of public speaking anxiety were used in an experiment by
Wechsler and colleagues to investigate the impact of training
with an external focus on attention. When participants were VI. CONCLUSION
trained to pay attention to members of the audience in a
virtual setting, the amount of time they spent gazing at the Twenty years have passed since the first research paper
virtual audience during a public speech after the training rose, on the use of virtual reality to treat a psychological disorder
as did their positive affect. As a result, one of the most was published in 199510, and here we are. Virtual reality has

ISSN No:-2456-2165
emerged as a practical tool that can assist in the treatment of
a variety of disorders. The use of virtual reality has been
shown to be most effective in the treatment of patients
undergoing exposure therapy for anxiety disorders, cue
exposure therapy for patients undergoing treatment for
substance use disorders, and distraction for patients
undergoing treatment for acute pain that requires painful
procedures. In general, meta-analyses have shown that virtual
reality (VR) is a useful tool, that it performs well when
compared to control conditions, and that it has long-lasting
effects that are transferable to the real world. However, there
are some issues that have been brought to light, such as the
lack of comparison groups, the lack of methodological rigour,
and the small sample sizes. It is likely that the number of
virtual reality applications will increase in the near future as
the price of head-mounted displays continues to drop and
smaller applications for smart phones continue to be
developed. It will be essential that these be regarded as tools,
and that therapists receive adequate training in the appropriate
uses of these tools.
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Volume 8, Issue 1, January – 2023 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology

The Use of Interventions Based on Virtual

Sheikh Owais Aaman

IJISRT23JAN370 www.ijisrt.com 126

IJISRT23JAN370 www.ijisrt.com 127

[1]. American Psychiatric Association (2013). Diagnostic

IJISRT23JAN370 www.ijisrt.com 128

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