The Efficacy of Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET) in Treating Specific Phobia
Specific phobia, described in DSM-V, is a certain kind of anxiety disorder, in which a patient experiences an amount of unreasonable intense fear for certain objects or situations. Stimulators include animals, natural environment, situations and blood injection injury (APA, 2013). Intense fear and extreme anxiety generally result in patients with social impairment. In the United States, the lifetime prevalence for specific phobia is 12.5% (Kessler & Chiu, 2005). As one of the most common mental disorders in the United States, specific phobia attracts both academia and the general population’s attention. General treatments for specific phobia include exposure
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The lifetime prevalence of driving phobia is 1.1% (Becker, et al., 2007). However, few VR experiments had conducted in this field. (Wald, 2004)
A case report conducted by Jaye Wald and Steven Taylor proved the efficacy of VRET was not significant in treating driving phobia; however it is still valuable to continue researching (Wald & Taylor, 2000). Jaye Wald conducted a multiple baseline across-subject design to further the test of VRET in treating driving phobia. Wald recruited five participants and measured their pre and post treatment result with SCID-IV (First et al., 1996), Driving History Interview (Ehlers, 1990) and Driving Diary. Researcher used a Virtual Reality Driving Simulator, which can generate driving experience in multiple settings, and a controller to immerse patients into a VR environment. Participants received eight weekly treatment of gradual VR exposure, each season last approximately 50 minutes. After eight weekly treatments, researcher recorded participant’s immediate result, in addition to 1-month, 3-month and 1-year follow-up assessment. Data is following:
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Specific phobia isn’t the only mental disorder benefiting from this technology, more and more researchers are focusing on applying VRET in anxiety-related disorders. However, the advancement of VR technology also has brought up some concerns that we must not disregard. Firstly, the role of presence is critical in successful VR exposure treatment (Price & Anderson, 2007). If the computer-generated images are too real, patients may refuse to seek treatment because of their intense fear that is paired with these scenarios. If the image quality is too unbearable, the efficacy of treatment cannot be guaranteed. Secondly, even though many anxiety specialists have begun to be equipped with VR devices, the complete cost of VR devices is still too high for general therapist to afford. Thirdly, some immoral behaviors, mistreating virtual animal for instance, give rise to ethical concerns in using VR technology. (Brey,
A Modest Proposal For Making Driving More Entertaining, While Creating The Same Risks For Everyone On The Road
Just imagine for a moment that you have a cynophobia or the fear of dogs, would this be how you would feel. Driving down the road the oil light comes on. "I must stop the car to add more oil or I will damage the car engine. This looks like a good place to pull over. I'll just stop in front of this house. The oil is in the trunk, so I'll pop the top first, then get the oil out of the trunk. OK, I have the oil, but what if there is a dog at this house. Hurry, I have to hurry. A dog might come running out and bark at me any minute. Just get the oil in the engine. I can't my hands are shaking. Don't worry, there is no dog. Just get the oil in the engine. I don't care if I spill it, just get some in the engine. Take another look around, is there a dog anywhere. OK, the oils in, now hurry get back in the car. I can't breath. I'm safely back in the car, now just take a minute and breath. When will my hands stop shaking." This is how a person with a phobia of dogs might feel. There is no dog around anywhere in sight, but the thought of a dog running at them barking is enough to cause a panic attack. In "Exploring Psychology" David G. Myers defines phobia as "an anxiety disorder marked by a persistent, irrational fear and avoidance of a specific object or situation" (432). This paper will explore the history, causes, effects, and treatment of Phobias.
Exposure therapy, which is a cognitive behavioral approach, currently is considered one of the most effective treatments available (Cukor et al., 2009). Rizzo et al., (2010) talks about one such example of exposure therapy is Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET). The object of V...
There are three kinds of phobias: simple phobia, social phobia, and panic attacks. Simple phobias, also called specific phobias, are fears of a specific thing, such as spiders or being in a closed place. Most simple phobias develop during childhood and eventually disappear. Specific phobia is a marked fear of a specific object or situation. It is a category for any phobias other than agoraphobia and social phobia. The categories of specific phobias are 1. situational phobias such as: fear of elevators, airplanes, enclosed places, public transportation, tunnels, or bridges; 2. fear of the natural environment such as: storms, water, or heights; 3. animal phobias such as: fear of dogs, snakes, insects, or mice; 4. blood-injection-injury phobia such as: fear of seeing blood or an injury, or of receiving an injection. (Wood 520).
“The National Safety Council Looks into New Study on the Brain’s Ability to Safely Drive and use a Cell Phone.” Entertainment Close-up 17 June 2013. Health Reference Center Academic. Web. 6 Nov. 2013.
In order to treat the fear you must treat it with relaxation while in the presence of the feared situation. The first step in Wolpe’s study was to focus on relaxing your body. He recommended a process that involves tensing and relaxing various groups of muscles until a deep state of relaxation is achieved (Wolpe,264). The second stage was to develop a list of anxiety-producing situations that are associated with the phobia. The list would descend with from the least uncomfortable situation to the most anxiety producing event you can imagine. The number of events can vary from 5 to 20 or more. The final step is to desensitize, which is the actual “unlearning” of the phobia. Wolpe told his patients that no actual contact with the fear is necessary, and that the same effectiveness can be accomplished through descriptions and visualizations(Wolpe,265). Wolpe’s participants are told to put themselves in a state of relaxation which they are taught. Then, the therapist begins reading the first situation on the hierarchy they have made up. If the patient stays relaxed through the first situation the therapist continues to the next until the state of relaxation is broken. If they feel a slight moment of anxiety they are to raise their index finger until the state of relaxation is restored. The average number
One of the characteristics of a phobia is a feeling that is greater than the fear of a situation or object with an exaggeration of the danger associated with the said situation or even object. This persistent fear often leads to an anxiety disorder that leads an individual to develop mechanisms that ensure one avoids the object or situation that triggers the occurrence of the phobia. Phobias can have highly debilitating effects on an individual including the development of depression, isolation, substance abuse, and even suicide. Many people take phobia for granted however, it is clear that it has the potential to impair the quality of life for both the affected and the people around them. The fact that many of the phobias are manageable using
Driving is the significant and joyful exploration to life. Self-driving with a particular destination to go means no human participation in driving process, which could disconnect the interaction between the human body and the motorized force, deprive people of the joy of exploration and impair the sense of operations including steering wheel or the gearstick. As a result, the driving pleasure would evaporate considerably (Barton, 2014). Most importantly, if the drivers are conditioned to the self-driving systems, the society would be facing as concerns mount that the self-driving systems
Most people, with phobias such as fear of animals, clowns, and closed spaces and so on, have always tried to avoid the feared stimuli which can reduce anxiety but only temporarily. In systematic desensitization, on the other hand, the feared stimuli is directly confronted which leads to a more stable and permanent treatment. Generalizability as a concept is also put into account because not only will Chandler face a German Shepherd but also other dogs along the process. Common problems that may arise in the learning program would be the length of time the research requires, wrong order of placement in the levels of hierarchy, and the persistent level or anxiety after numerous cycles. Systematic desensitization may take 6-8 sessions on average depending on the severity of the phobia. It is labor intensive and time consuming. In addition, due to the process controlled by the patient, there may be wrong placements of the orders of hierarchy which can lead to low levels of anxiety in the succeeding stages and constancy of the phobia even after countless trials and cycles. Therefore, the patient must be keen while creating and rating his/ her own fear
Rizzo, A. (2005). Virtual reality exposure therapy. University of Southern California Institute of Creative Technologies. Retrieved from http://ict.usc.edu/prototypes/pts/
With these new advancements, it comes with many new aspects of driving such as talking or texting on the phone when driving, more distractions, GPAs, and advanced cars. Some positive aspects of the virtual environment of driving are that cars are becoming much more advanced with hands-free blue tooth communication, back up cameras, and touch screens. These make cars much more user-friendly and easier to maneuver for someone who has a disability. Some negative aspects of virtual environments are the new concerns of people texting and making phone calls when driving and also an overall increase in distracted driving. These both make it very dangerous for not only the driver but also everyone on the
When I was six years old, I hated car rides. To a six year old, a car ride was the epitome of boredom. There was nothing to do on a car ride except sit there for hours watching the trees. I would get carsick every single time I was in my mom’s Volvo. If I wasn’t sick or bored, I was waiting painfully in the backseat for the next exit ramp so my mom could turn off the road for a bathroom break. My mom would have to bribe me with candy or some other special treat just to get me in a car everyday. Some six year olds were afraid of monsters and doctor’s visits; I was afraid of the car. About ten years later something happened, a change. When I finally got my driver’s license at age sixteen, I was no longer afraid of the once dreaded car ride.
Virtual reality gives huge benefits in education and helps to improve student engagement. It’s one of the best ways to engage and helps the students to understand the subject through virtual reality system. Especially in the virtual reality game will bring significant impact to teenagers. The major three types of impact are social difficulty (socially impaired), physical and psychological difficulty. Even virtual reality is a great tool to learn, but it is not a universal learning method for all of the educational areas. Too much of virtual reality for students will cause social difficulties because an inescapable aspect of social life is the formation and maintenance of interpersonal relationships (Biocca and Levy 1995). Constantly using virtual reality will cause isolation from the societies because the person already made his or her own social area which only exists in the virtual world. VR will provide a communication environment in which the dangers of deception and the benefits of creativity are amplified beyond the levels that humans currently experience in their interpersonal interactions (Biocca and Levy 1995). It could lead to low self-esteem, feelings of worthlessness and insignificance, even self-destructive acts (Cartwright, 1994). VR games could mindlessly, energy sapping diversion, bring electronic isolation, a playground for immortality (Kershner 1995). Virtual Reality game brings physical and psychological difficulties when they over run and it could be called as cyber sickness. VR interventions were able to increase physical activity capacity and performance in children with CP (Cerebral palsy) or early brain injury. Cyber sickness is one of the physiological impacts durin...
We all have our fears, rather it be flying or driving. However, when a phobia is present the individual has extreme irrational fears that interfere with their quality of life. For example a fear of heights may limit an individuals living or employment choices. If this individual is offered the job of a lifetime, however, the office is located on the twentieth floor; they will refuse the job due to the fear of heights.
Although still in its, infancy, virtual reality will have a substantial effect on our future way of life. Virtual reality already has made astounding progress in the world of commercial design, and it is predicted to have a tremendous impact on everyday life as well. Virtual reality, when more available, will have various uses ranging from recreation to basic communication. The applications of virtual reality into different fields of occupations and research will have both positive and negative effects on our society.