How VR Could Help Us Deal With Depression
VR-based therapies for depression
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Depression is a serious illness. More than "the blues," it is a mental condition that, if left untreated, can have serious consequences. It doesn't just affect one's activities in his or her daily life. It can result in severe mental and physical issues in the long term. And, for many people, it's a reoccurring disorder. And despite it being so common, we still struggle to fully understand it and treat it. Now virtual reality is helping us do both.
How VR Could Help Us Deal With Depression
Depression is extremely common. According to the World Health Organization, it affects approximately 300 million people worldwide. It is the leading cause of disability worldwide, more prevalent among women, and at its worse can, and does often, lead to suicide. Though the statistics are a little fuzzy, with the exception of a few outliers we can also conclude that depression is more common in “richer countries.”
And although there are some treatments proven to be effective against depression, their use is not widespread. The WHO says that less than half of those suffering from depressive disorders worldwide (and in many countries fewer than 10%) receive those treatments. According to the organization, some of the barriers to effective treatment include a lack of training for healthcare providers, a lack of resources, and a social stigma associated with mental disorders.
It is no surprise, therefore, that we need all the help we can get. Now we’re finding that virtual reality also has a role to play in our fight against depressive disorders.
Researchers at the University College London have recently made strides in utilizing virtual reality to deal with depression. According to an article in the British Journal of Psychiatry Open, self-criticism is a component of psychopathology that can be treated by increasing levels of self-compassion. However, many individuals are resistant to self-compassion. By using virtual reality to train self-compassion, however, this resistance can be overcome.
In the 8-minute scenario they constructed, the 15 patients were put in a virtual reality room where they comforted a distressed child. Throughout, the virtual child would respond positively to the patient’s comforting words. Then, the roles were reversed, where a patient was now embodied as a child, and a virtual adult would play back their comforting words to them.
What were the results? Three repetitions of this scenario led to significant reductions in depression severity and self-criticism. It also led to increased levels of self-compassion, with 4 of the 15 patients showing clinically significant improvements. The researchers conclude that this method of treating depression may have considerable potential and should be investigated further.
But this isn’t the only example.
Researchers at the University of Colorado are also using VR to help patients deal with depression, irrational fears, and anxiety. According to Monica Ng, the Director of Counseling and Psychiatric Services at the University, VR helps patients work on their problems within the context of a safe space. According to her, it is not unlike cognitive behavioural therapy, focusing on challenging and changing unhelpful thoughts and behaviours. This is done by placing patients in situations where their fears, anxiety, or depression would worsen while allowing them to deal with it in a virtual, safe, space.
Michelle Craske, Professor of Psychology, Psychiatry, and Biobehavioral Sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles, also believes in the power of virtual reality to deal with depression-related problems.
According to Stat News, the researcher and her colleagues are testing whether virtual reality can help with anhedonia, a condition marked by a lack of interest or ability to feel pleasure, and a symptom of mental disorders such as depression.
To do that, they immerse their clients in pleasant scenarios, such as diving in coral reefs, cheering for soccer teams, or strolling through the forest on a sunny day to the melody of piano music. Instead of focusing on treating and minimizing negative thoughts, the researchers help clients focus on positive experiences and feelings that can also help deal with anxiety and depression. As quoted in the article, she says most treatments so far have done a decent job at reducing negative symptoms, but a poor job at helping people become more positive. Though the jury’s still out on its effectiveness against anhedonia, previous successes in using VR to deal with depression are an encouraging sign.
But virtual reality doesn’t just have the potential to help treat depression. It can also help us understand it better.
In Singapore, one-time sessions provided by staff from the Touch Community Services, part of a program called “Do You M.I.N.D.?”, were conducted to help secondary school students about mental health. Among other things, students put a VR headset on and took the persona of a girl suffering from depression, during a 2-minute session. They experienced and heard her thoughts as if they were their own. After that, they were asked to discuss the scenario and how they felt.
VR, therefore, can be a great vehicle for delivering greater compassion towards those suffering from depression. It can also help us understand what it is like to suffer from depression and similar disorders. As mentioned above, obstacles to effectively treating these disorders include a lack of proper resources, a lack of training for healthcare professionals, and the social stigma associated with these conditions. With the help of immersive virtual reality, we can add a new resource to the battle, in addition to being able to, through better education, reduce some of the social stigmas by increasing empathy and understanding of the condition.
We have talked before how virtual reality is expected to have a profound impact across several industries. Its potential to revolutionize healthcare is, in many ways, one of the most promising pursuits.
And now, by helping us treat depressive disorders and new and more effective ways, we can be happy about the near-term prospects of seeing virtual reality fulfil its promises.
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