PHOBIA AND VRET : WHAT DOES SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH TEACH US ?
Virtual reality exposure therapies are being seen through the scientific eyes. Many researchers have been evaluating their efficiency, and have seen significant results. They have quickly been convinced about the use in clinical practice. Indeed, in VRET, the anxious response is activated to reach its vanishment. And this therapy has many benefits in social phobias, specific phobias, agoraphobia, PTSD and in OCD.
Malbos (2016) have shown that, in social phobia, it’s not only efficient, but there also is a big gain in the long-term.
Authors agree on the security of the use of this therapy, as well as they have noticed a better therapeutic engagement.
TREATING PHOBIAS WITH VRET
Considered as the cognitive and behavioral approach’s new wave, patients have the possibility to be exposed to anxiety-provoking situations in virtual reality offering security and confidentiality within your office.
Garcia-Palacio, Hoffman, Carlin, Furness, Botella and so many more have noticed that Virtual Reality was significantly more satisfying and stimulating for patients. Therefore, the therapeutic engagement and the care goals’ compliance are facilitated.
What are virtual reality benefits ?
- Accessibility
- Privacy
- Easier care
- Patient’s security
- Financial gain
C2 PHOBIA : IMPROVED TECHNOLOGY FOR A SINSE OF TOTAL REALISM
C2Phobia environments, recognized by the CE medical device, have been thought and created to experience a total submersion, and optimized the learning transfer.
Being immersed in similar situations as reality that usually makes the patients anxious offers an optimal sensorial stimulation. C2Phobia is really easy to use, either by the profesional or the patient.
How do I take care of my patient ?
- Directly from your “professional” interface, you have a screen feedback of what your patient sees in the virtual reality headset. You can change the setting on live to customize the environment depending on the therapeutic goal.
- You can increase or decrease some stimuli like the crowd intensity, the insistence of other people look, people’s feelings and much more. You also have the possibility to directly talk to your patients, as an interlocutor inside the environment.
CASE STUDY : HOW VERTIGO CAN BE TREATED WITH IN VIRTUO EXPOSURES ?
C2Phobia offers the possibility to, gradually, expose your patient. This application has been created to fully respect the anxiety-provoking situation’s ranking. A healthcare professional can easily take care of a patient’s acrophobia, for example. Stimuli realism increase people’s anxiety and their emotion response, which creates an optimized exposure.
With C2Cphobia, the patients is exposed in the building in different height :
- At the foot of the building
- From the 1st to the 15th floor
- In the roof of a skyscrape
- On a nacelle
- …
The patient can even be exposed, by himself, on a balcony or in an outside elevator. The fact that it’s possible to have control on the stimuli levels will increase the anxiety, which is essential to turn it off. The therapist has control on everything in the environment such as the walkway between the two buildings (full guardrail, strings, none…).
Social Phobia
Treating social phobia is also possible with C2Phobia. In the virtual environments you can work on the avatar’s visual and oral interactions, facial expressions, and being in front of a crowd… We have specific environments for school phobias to be able to expose young people to their important fear.
Exposing people gradually helps to be exposed to anxiety-provoking situations with efficiency and in a soft way. Moreover, the therapist can interact with the patient using a microphone to create verbal interactions. In these cases, you can work on social abilities and self esteem.
Specific phobia
Specific phobias can also be treated in virtual reality : insect phobias, zoophobia, height phobia, flying phobia, claustrophobia, driving phobia… The software has been made to answer specific phobias therapeutic needs.
Every environment has been created to fully respect the anxiety’s ranking. For each phobia, the therapist has the possibility to gradually expose the patient.
Virtual reality makes it easier to get access to the environments, to situations, to objects, to animals considering all limits you have on in vivo exposures.
Agoraphobia
The dysfunctional processes in agoraphobia can make in vivo exposure complicated. C2Phobia is the solution to compensate for this. The patient is gradually exposed to some virtual places like the city, public transports, supermarkets… The goal is to reach a more functional social and professional response in these situations. The therapist has the entire control of exposure situations with the possibility to make them progressive : increasing the crowd around, people’s feelings … The on live feedback helps the therapist to see everything that the patient makes or does. Agoraphobia’s care is facilitated with virtual reality benefits.
Post-Traumatique Stress
Treating PTSD with virtual reality is about visualizing the traumatism’s origin.
Virtual reality is one of the best tools to help people with this difficulty. C2Care develops the most common traumatic environments.
To be able to answer individual needs, adding as many photos or videos we want is possible.
Using EMDR is also an option within the environment with C2Care’s solution.
Generalized Anxiety
Generalized anxiety can be treated using the various environments developed by C2Care. Generalized anxiety disorder is characterized by a feeling of insecurity, a near-constant worry that will interfere with activities of daily living. These disorders will often lead to various psychological and bodily manifestations such as muscle tension, hypervigilance, irritability, insomnia… Virtual reality will make it possible to place the patient in environments that are particularly anxiety-provoking for him/her, while having a feedback of what he/she sees and being able to modify them as he/she goes along. In addition, to maximize the effectiveness of the therapy, relaxation is an important part of it. C2Care has created different environments that will allow the patient to be immersed in places that are relaxing for them.
Obsessional-compulsive disorders
OCD or obsessional-compulsive disorders, are obsessive, automatic, repetitive, uncontrollable thoughts, ideas or affects.
The themes can be various such as dirt, security, responsability…
C2Care has develop various environments within the patient who is gradually exposed his obsession theme.
With virtual reality the therapist has the entire control of the environment, on live, helped by the screen feedback of what the patient sees (for example : increasing the level of dirt).