By Lana Salloum | Staff Writer
Equip your headset and let virtual reality take control as it fabricates wondrous and entrancing realms challenging the thin thread between what is real and what is not.
A lot of people think that’s all that virtual reality can do; captivate one’s senses into believing they are somewhere they most definitely are not hypnotizing their senses in the process. While that was the original purpose of the first VR ever created, or the Sensorama as that’s what it was called back then a lot which was basically what VR is today but instead of a headset it was a booth equipped with aromas and everything, letting up to four users get fully immersed in its worlds, today’ VR has evolved. Now, virtual reality has branched out not only affecting the entertainment industry but as well as the health industry. This essay will discuss how VR can treat physical and mental problems and improve one’s way of life as well as some of the consequences of using it.
Virtual reality has become a valuable tool to effectively treat anxiety, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and even substance abuse. Many people with anxiety take medications for it and others would rather practice yoga or meditation to help relieve their stress but after the pandemic,
telehealth seems what people seek more and more and thankfully for good reason too. Since the brain cannot differentiate between a VR simulation and real life, VR exposure therapy (VRET) has been incredibly helpful to folks suffering from disorders like anxiety. Exposure therapy has been one of the most effective methods of treating anxiety. One of the differences between it and VR exposure therapy is that the situations in VRET are happening in a virtual environment, an environment that is much easier and less costly for therapists to tweak and adjust as they see fit for their patient. VRET has not only been used to treat anxiety but also a myriad of other disorders like specific phobias, autism, PTSD, and even substance abuse where patients can learn to control their cravings without being exposed to the dangerous substance and risk relapsing right then and there (not to mention the illegality of possessing said substance). After this, they will be able to make use of the skills they learned during their VRET sessions and apply them to face situations in real life. Other therapies that VR integrates besides exposure therapy include music therapy where patients sing aloud in a virtual setting used to treat adolescents with social anxiety and on the autistic spectrum as well as art therapy. After these treatments, studies showed that those with anxiety and depression that gave VR a chance experienced a drop in their symptoms as well as that these improvements were maintained after VR therapy which goes to show VR’s effectiveness in clinical settings.
Virtual reality can also tackle physical health issues and not only mental ones. It is great at addressing both acute and chronic pain as it provides enough distraction from it that the patient can barely register it anymore where VR treatment groups showed impressive improvement in levels of pain. For example, patients registered less pain during painful medical procedures with VR providing a great distraction and matters like chronic neck and
back pain that used to hinder and disrupt the peace in people’s lives was also relieved thanks to VR. Besides serving as a pain relief, VR encourages body fitness and makes it fun as well so that people give up less easily. By wearing the headset, they can engage in maintaining their physical well-being while playing games providing them with immersive and appealing workout exercises that go beyond the traditional ones while still being able to provide all aspects of a body workout like cardio, balance and coordination. Not only does it gamify the workout process, but it also makes it easier to track calories and progress.
There is no doubt that VR served the healthcare industry well and we expect to see it grow in popularity and efficiency as an indispensable tool in the future. However, like many groundbreaking tools, it too has a list of disadvantages. Starting from its cost, VR headsets are not cheap and if one intends to use VRET, for example, they will have to pay for the VR headset as well as the medical services they require. Another disadvantage is that VR is a technology that can become as addictive as phones as they do their job of immersing and relaxing its user, leading many of those who use it to heavily rely on it as a sort of escape which then leads to isolation and avoiding social life altogether. This is considered a bit ironic, as their intended use was to help people end their addictions and become active and functioning social members of their community. VR, despite its many consequences where many of which are not mentioned here, has a promising future. Here’s to hoping that it is for the sake of humanity and not against it.
References:
https://www.comsoc.org/node/19151#:~:text=Cinematographer%20Morton%20Heilig%20creates%20Sensorama,atmospheric%20effects%2C%20such%20as%20wind.
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/750c/778b8bab51311f9601142358d05a554bd41a.pdf
https://mental.jmir.org/2021/9/e29681/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6493092/
https://journals.lww.com/clinicalpain/abstract/2022/06000/the_state_of_science_in_the_use_of_virtual_reality.7.aspx
https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/conference-proceedings-of-spie/11002/110020Q/Clinical-virtual-reality-in-mental-health-and-rehabilitation–a/10.1117/12.2524302.full#c62
https://journals.lww.com/clinicalpain/abstract/2023/09000/the_use_of_virtual_reality_in_the_rehabilitation.8.aspx
https://journals.lww.com/clinicalpain/fulltext/2023/06000/effect_of_a_behavioral_therapy_based_virtual.4.aspx