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Mindfulness, Therapy and Support, VR-Related

Four Real World Examples of VR for Mindfulness and Meditation

According to a Harvard Health, mindfulness is “a key element in stress reduction and overall happiness” and is known to “help relieve stress, treat heart disease, lower blood pressure, reduce chronic pain, improve sleep, and alleviate gastrointestinal difficulties.” 

Despite its benefits, however, mindfulness training can be intimidating to non-practitioners and particularly difficult for remote participants. This has lead researchers to investigate how Virtual Reality (VR) can be used to lower the barriers and increase the efficacy of meditation practice for a variety of purposes and populations. Below are four recent examples.

To Increase Positive Emotion in the General Population

A recent study out of Melbourne, Australia is one of several that points to VR as a viable option for improving mental health and mindfulness. Mindfulness is a great way to improve mental health, however, under normal circumstances, is a difficult habit to adopt due to environmental and personal distractions. Virtual Reality (VR) directly addresses these challenges “by providing an immersive environment for practicing mindfulness and by supporting the user to orient attention to the present moment within a tailored virtual setting.” A group of 37 participants were recruited to trial a VR mindfulness app in which users were presented with 360 video of a “peaceful forest environment with a guided mindfulness voiceover.” Researchers analyzed participant scores on the State Mindfulness Scale, Simulator Sickness Questionnaire, arousal, and positive or negative emotion before and after users participated in the simulation. Although there were initial concerns about simulator sickness and negative emotion, neither of these variables produced any notable changes following the simulation. However, state mindfulness and positive emotion significantly increased, participants reporting that “the use of VR helped them to focus on the present moment by using visual and auditory elements of VR as attentional anchors.” The spatial presence of virtual environments allowed participants to practice mindfulness and meditation, positively affecting their mental health and well-being.

To Reduce Stress In the Workplace

A study out of England analyzed workplace stress specifically in the National Health Service (NHS) and tested the effectiveness of Virtual Reality in decreasing levels of stress and promoting overall well being. “Work-related stress, defined as ‘a harmful reaction that people have to undue pressures and demands placed on them at work’ is one of the most important emerging risks in occupational management and health.” This stress is threatening not only the quality of services provided, but the sustainability of vital healthcare systems and corporations around the world. Researchers provided a 10-minute VR relaxation experience to 39 trauma staff working in a fast-paced environment. Following the session, participants “reported significantly increased feelings of happiness and relaxation, and significantly decreased feelings of sadness, anger, and anxiety.” Furthermore, patients experienced a significant reduction in heart rate and yielded high acceptability ratings. Ultimately, the study found that VR relaxation sessions were beneficial to the health and well-being of healthcare workers, and many were excited at the opportunity to implement it into their everyday lives.

To Help Treat Opioid Addiction

VR mindfulness and relaxation are also being implemented in the midst of the opioid epidemic. This epidemic is an ever-so-present problem in our society, and the key to preventing further damage is by exploring viable alternatives to pain relief. According to The Gate Theory of Pain proposed by Melzack and Wall in 1965, “a person may interpret pain stimuli differently depending upon mental/emotional factors such as attention paid to the pain, emotions associated with the pain, and past experience of the pain.” Believe it or not, we can essentially “distract” our way out of pain. Virtual Reality addresses two of Melzack and Wall’s points – attention and emotional state. Through VR technology, patients can escape to an alternate reality, sending positive signals to their brain and subsequently lessening the pain they are experiencing. This technology dates back to 1996, when the Harborview Burn Center “successfully piloted the use of VR for burn patients with severe acute pain,” which inspired other providers to make VR technology accessible to patients experiencing acute pain. Recent studies have shown promising results for relieving chronic pain as well, patients reporting high levels of satisfaction and a significant reduction in overall pain. Although VR cannot fully take the place of opioids, it can definitely be used as an alternative for certain candidates, considering their level of pain and potential risk factors.

To Act As A Moderator of Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy

Virtual Reality is another promising candidate as a moderator of Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy (PP), a “unique psychopharmacological model that leverages the profound effects of the psychedelic experience.” PP is highly reliant on two key factors – the patient’s mindset and their surrounding environment. Consequently, meditation, relaxation, and visualization are supplemental tools in creating the most effective environment for this therapy. Virtual Reality is a promising candidate to provide these tools, given its evidenced capacity to “aid relaxation and reduce anxiety; buffer from external stimuli; promote a mindful presence; train the mind to achieve altered states of consciousness (ASC); evoke mystical states; enhance therapeutic alliance and encourage self-efficacy.” Because there was little empirical evidence on the joint application of VR technology in Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy, researchers aimed to gather evidence on the ability to achieve a deeper sense of consciousness in a virtual environment. 

They found 7 different ways that VR can be used to support psychedelic treatments:

1. Mitigate psychological side effects through enhancing the state of relaxation,

2. Help participants sustain their focus on intention by removing familiar cues that keep them tethered to their external world,

3. Encourage entering the inner world of experience by inducing a mindful presence,

4. Deepen the intensity of acute psychological and emotional states via simultaneous targeting of ME-evoking pathways,

5. Prime the capacity to achieve an altered states of consciousness (ASC) through familiarization and comfort with the ASC experience,

6. Enhance and maintain a hierarchy-free therapeutic alliance that is consistent throughout treatment,

7. Strengthen resilience and a sense of agency around facing challenging experiences.

It is also important to note the comfort and safety of the environments that VR provides, allowing patients to temporarily distract themselves from the emotionally taxing process of overcoming and treating PTSD or related disorders. Researchers ultimately recommend that VR be introduced into PP, as long as it is “developed in accordance with a robust protocol…and accompanied by thorough training of any practitioners involved in therapy.” Virtual Reality has the ability to transform the future of psychedelic treatments, as long as appropriate precautions are taken to not introduce disturbing or traumatic triggers or distract from the inner narrative.

The Foretell Reality platform provides safe VR environments to support various mental health treatment protocols including those that incorporate mindfulness training and relaxation experiences as part of the protocol. To learn more about our platform, please reach out to us for a demo.

virtual reality (VR) eating disorders
Therapy and Support

VR Exposure Therapy for Eating Disorders

Influencers. Thought leaders. Foodies. Models. Instagram. Sound familiar? It’s 2020, and it’s noisy. The struggle between people and eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia, dates back centuries ago. The human need to be viewed as aesthetically pleasing and acceptable in the eyes of others has intensified in recent years, in parallel with the raging popularity of social media. No, social media isn’t the scapegoat for all of our problems. It does provide us with a place for sharing and receiving information, keeping up with market trends and providing entertaining content after a strenuous day at work.

However, we can’t forget that it’s called social-media. As in, the places we share our media with the rest of the world. Comparing ourselves to others has never been easier, has never been quicker, and has never been a stronger driver behind body self-consciousness. People with eating disorders possess a negative body image of themselves, where what they see is shaped by negative attitudes and perceptions of how they think they look. As a consequence of the distorted lens they can’t but peer through, they tend to overestimate their body weight and shape, and live in a cloud of depression, anxiety and shame as a result.

Rather than turning to drug therapy, a form of psychotherapeutic treatment called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is commonly used to aid in reducing the automatic, negative mental responses people with eating disorders internally struggle with. However, it is limited. Discussing how you feel with your therapist when you’re not actively immersed in that headspace isn’t as effective as sharing your feelings right as they come. But how can that be made possible? With simulated environments.

Virtual Reality (VR) technology is increasingly being used to assist in many mental health conditions that involve managing complex emotions. A study on the use of virtual reality to help individuals with eating disorders outlines that, “Body image disorder in patients with eating disorders are related to a deficiency in their ability to update their negative body image stored in their memory…with sensory motor and proprioceptive inputs in real time.”

By virtually reproducing situations that trigger destructive emotions to flood patients’ minds, therapists are able to step in at that very moment and help them become aware of their body image distortions. This method of creating realistic anxiety inducing simulations, or exposure therapy, is made especially effective with the use of VR tech, and has been developed by numerous companies such as Foretell Reality to help patients in need

The virtual environments are supervised, allowing the therapist to adjust the simulation for the stress level. The patients create their virtual “body”, or the avatar, that reflects how they perceive themselves. The therapist can then generate a silhouette based on the patient’s real body dimensions in order to make apparent the difference between perception and reality to the patient.

Potential for creating all sorts of emotion provoking environments unique to each patient- either who suffer from the mental effects of eating disorders or other mental illnesses- is large with Virtual Reality. Re-living the very environments that arouse negative emotions on the spot allows therapists to help their patients confront their issues right on the spot, and therefore handle them more effectively.

Foretell Reality is an enterprise VR solution for interpersonal communication and business collaboration. Learn more here.

virtual reality (VR) mental health
Therapy and Support

The Mental Health Puzzle

Mental health. What it means today in 2020 is largely different than how a vast number of people perceived it nearly a decade ago. The stigma of its importance is often perceived as being secondary to its tangible counterpart, physical health. Thankfully, more people are recognizing the relationship between mental health and physical wellbeing—especially due to the aid of awareness campaigns, such as Bell Let’s Talk, and increased advocacy from public figures. But what happens when an unprecedented pandemic forces millions to stay at home just as the world has started opening up to the idea of seeking real help?

Although digital alternatives such as videoconferencing, phone calls and email have shown to be effective in helping a scope of mental health illnesses, a piece remains missing. An essential element that links one human to another in order to cultivate an environment of trust and ease of mind is feeling the presence of another human.

When living in isolation and a constant state of uncertainty, there is value in having communication that fosters a sense of connection. Out of all telehealth platforms, Virtual Reality (VR) is the first form of communication that reaps the same advantages as face-to-face meetings and offers additional benefits that would be impossible to execute in a shared, physical environment. Thankfully, technology has been advancing prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, and VR is now surfacing in our new age of remote-health needs.

Companies such as Foretell Reality specialize in creating immersive platforms designed to foster nearly real interpersonal human experiences. A patient’s comfort doesn’t need to be compromised when taking part in VR therapeutic sessions. One VR experience with partner company XRHealth is purposed around ensuring a comfortable environment for its patients by providing relaxing décor and customizable avatars.

Receiving mental and emotional support isn’t a one time thing. Yes, doctor-patient follow ups are possible over the phone and through video call, but VR brings its people closer to each other. That feeling of going into the office and trusting that your doctor has been monitoring your progression is made possible with VR because it minimizes the robotic element that comes with using technology. A recent article from HealthTech outlines, “…In the arena of pain management or mental health, immersion in virtual worlds can produce better results.”

The human species is an incredibly social one, relying heavily on the subtle nuances of eye contact, hand gestures and posture to communicate. COVID-19 has disrupted this mode of communication by forcing a lifestyle of isolation- an especially harmful phenomena to mental health patients in need of real human help. Thankfully, virtual reality is working hand in hand with the healthcare industry to connect patients with doctors in immersive environments that stretch far beyond what video and chat are able to offer.

Foretell Reality is an enterprise VR solution for interpersonal communication and business collaboration. Learn more here.

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