Virtual therapy can help people overcome their fear of heights

How does a virtual therapy affect the fear of heights??

Some people develop fear of heights at some point in their lives, other people are already afraid of heights in childhood. Affected people panic as soon as they are at a high point, regardless of whether they are secured or not. Researchers have now discovered that a virtual treatment can be used to treat high altitude anxiety.

Scientists at the internationally acclaimed University of Oxford found in their current research that virtual therapy can help people with vertigo overcome their phobia. The experts published the results of their study in the English-language journal "The Lancet Psychiatry".

Many participants in the study have been suffering from vertigo for more than 30 years

A new virtual reality (VR) program for acrophobia (vertigo) has now been tested on volunteers. At the examination, there was one treatment group and another group for control, the physicians explain. Most of the participants have been suffering from anxiety for more than 30 years. The 44 subjects in the treatment group received a total of five or six 30-minute sessions of VR treatment over the course of two weeks.

70 percent of the subjects were cured of their fear of heights

The results found in the study were quite significant, say the experts. About 70 percent of the VR group no longer had any fear of heights after treatment, while everyone in the control group who had not received any treatment continued to suffer from fears of high altitude.

How did the simulation go??

The VR Simulator puts people in a safe situation where they can learn to handle their fear. Participants wear a so-called VR headset and are asked to move through a 10-storey building and do scary tasks there, such as looking over a high lead, the scientists explain. One of the toughest tasks was to go to a platform to rescue a cat from a tree.

Subjects should deal with their fear

The study should include tasks that are fun and, above all, make the participants have to deal with their fear, explains study author Professor Daniel Freeman of the University of Oxford. The exercises should teach the subject to feel safe even at higher altitudes.

More therapists and technological solutions are needed

The therapy is also accompanied by a virtual coach, which calms the user and sets the path. Some patients may prefer such treatment to direct treatment with a doctor, the experts speculate. This could save the healthcare system a lot of costs in the future. We need more qualified therapists, not less, the researchers say. In order to meet the great demand for mental health treatments, powerful technological solutions are needed, says Professor Freeman.

One in five people will eventually suffer from vertigo

A pilot VR Therapy project is now underway with some NHS clinics. Hopefully, this form of treatment will be a useful new way to help people overcome their fears, adds Professor Freeman. Altitude anxiety is probably the most common phobia. About one in five people suffers from fear of heights at some point in his life. (As)