Virtual Reality

Decrease Anxiety and Improve Test Performance with Virtual Reality Meditation

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Decrease Anxiety and Improve Test Performance with Virtual Reality Meditation

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“VR based meditation interventions have the potential to play an important role in anxiety management and stress reduction.” – Jeff Tarrant

 

In the modern world education is a key for success. But there is a lot of pressure on university students to excel. The pressure can lead to anxiety which can impede the student’s well-being and school performance. It is, for the most part, beyond the ability of the students to change the environment to reduce anxiety. There are, however, a number of psychological therapies for anxiety. Recently, it has been found that mindfulness training can be effective for anxiety disorders.

 

Technology has recently been applied to training in mindfulness. Indeed, mindfulness training carried out completely on-line has been shown to be effective for as number of conditions including anxiety. Virtual reality (VR) devices are improving and becoming readily available. Previously it has been shown the virtual reality (VR) can be helpful in treating phobias. and Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). But, it is not known if VR can enhance the effectiveness of mindfulness training in the treatment of anxiety in college students.

 

In today’s Research News article “The impact of virtual reality meditation on college students’ exam performance.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8520331/ ) Kaplan-Rakowski and colleagues recruited university students and randomly assigned them to receive a 15-minute meditation either with an “animated, slow-paced, calming visualizations of forest scenes” accompanied by music presented in virtual reality or on a video screen. They were measured before and after the meditation for anxiety. They also completed a 30-minute series of computer science tasks.

 

They found that in comparison to baseline both groups had decreased anxiety and improved performance on the computer science tasks, but the virtual reality group had significantly better test performance.

 

This study looked only at the immediate effects of a single 15-minute meditation in the laboratory. So, no conclusions can be reached on whether the benefits are sustained or what would be the effects of long-term meditation practice and whether these interventions would work in real-world applications. Nevertheless, the results are clear, brief meditation with videos produces immediate relief of anxiety and better test performance. In addition, adding virtual reality presentation to a brief meditation practice increases the improvement in test performance.

 

So, decrease anxiety and improve test performance with virtual reality meditation.

 

“I see virtual reality as a tool that helps me bridge the gap between that ideal and my reality. Some people might call it “cheating” at meditation. I simply call it relief.” – Sarah Garone

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Kaplan-Rakowski, R., Johnson, K. R., & Wojdynski, T. (2021). The impact of virtual reality meditation on college students’ exam performance. Smart Learning Environments, 8(1), 21. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40561-021-00166-7

 

Abstract

Advocates of meditation claim that it can improve various aspects of life, including health, attention, thinking, and learning. The purpose of this empirical, quantitative, between-subject study was twofold. First, it compared the effectiveness of meditation delivered through virtual reality versus video, as measured by students’ test scores. Second, the study provided insights on the use of meditation, whether via virtual reality or video, as a way to positively affect well-being. T-test analysis showed virtual reality meditation to be significantly more beneficial than video meditation. Students reported that meditation techniques delivered using either medium to be helpful in decreasing their pre-exam anxiety. This study has practical implications and offers evidence on the beneficial impact of VR meditation on students’ exam performance and anxiety levels.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8520331/

 

Virtual Reality Enhances Online Mindfulness Training

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Virtual Reality Enhances Online Mindfulness Training

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“I’ve done meditation before and I just zone out to what they are saying…because your mind’s working to picture something it then is working to daydream as well…Whereas, when it was just there in front of you, I think that it took a bit of pressure off of thinking, and you could be in the present.” – Study Participant

 

Over the last several decades, research and anecdotal experiences have accumulated an impressive evidential case that the development of mindfulness has positive benefits for the individual’s mental, physical, and spiritual life. Mindfulness appears to be beneficial both for healthy people and for people suffering from a myriad of illnesses. It appears to be beneficial across ages, from children to the elderly. And it appears to be beneficial across genders, personalities, race, and ethnicity. The breadth and depth of benefits is unprecedented.

 

There is no other treatment or practice that has been shown to come anyway near the range of mindfulness’ positive benefits. With impacts so great it is important to know how to promote the development of mindfulness even in individuals who dislike or avoid the discipline of practice. Technology has recently been applied to training in mindfulness. Indeed, mindfulness training carried out completely on-line has been shown to be effective for as number of conditions. There is evidence that virtual reality may be used to enhance the therapeutic effectiveness of mindfulness training. There is a need, however, to explore whether virtual reality enhances the development of mindfulness?

 

In today’s Research News article “Understanding How Virtual Reality Can Support Mindfulness Practice: Mixed Methods Study.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7113800/), Seabrook and colleagues recruited healthy adults online and trained them in mindfulness with a 15-minute virtual reality experience that included viewing forest scenes with a guided meditation voiceover. They were measured before and after training for mindfulness, anxiety, depression, perceived stress, and positive and negative emotions. They were also asked to evaluate the virtual reality with questionnaires on simulator sickness and general systems presence and were asked to engage in a semi-structured interview to assess the VR.

 

They found that after training there were significant increases in mindfulness and positive emotions. They also reported a strong sense of presence and very little simulator sickness during the VR. They rated it as very engaging and that it helped them focus on the present moment and practice mindfulness.

 

The study did not incorporate a comparison, control, condition. So, conclusions must be tempered with the knowledge that the results might reflect participant expectations or demand characteristics. It also had only a brief single session of training. So, it is unclear if virtual reality may be useful in sustained mindfulness training. Nevertheless, the results suggest that virtual reality may be a useful add on to mindfulness training to improve the development of mindfulness.

 

So, virtual reality enhances online mindfulness training.

 

“If I were sitting in that same environment in reality I would be thinking…are there other people there… is the car there. But knowing that this environment was virtual, I was able to simply enjoy it.” -– Study Participant

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Seabrook, E., Kelly, R., Foley, F., Theiler, S., Thomas, N., Wadley, G., & Nedeljkovic, M. (2020). Understanding How Virtual Reality Can Support Mindfulness Practice: Mixed Methods Study. Journal of medical Internet research, 22(3), e16106. https://doi.org/10.2196/16106

 

Abstract

Background

Regular mindfulness practice has been demonstrated to be beneficial for mental health, but mindfulness can be challenging to adopt, with environmental and personal distractors often cited as challenges. Virtual reality (VR) may address 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. However, there is currently a limited understanding of the ways in which VR can support or hinder mindfulness practice. Such an understanding is required to design effective VR apps while ensuring that VR-supported mindfulness is acceptable to end users.

Objective

This study aimed to explore how VR can support mindfulness practice and to understand user experience issues that may affect the acceptability and efficacy of VR mindfulness for users in the general population.

Methods

A sample of 37 participants from the general population trialed a VR mindfulness app in a controlled laboratory setting. The VR app presented users with an omnidirectional video of a peaceful forest environment with a guided mindfulness voiceover that was delivered by a male narrator. Scores on the State Mindfulness Scale, Simulator Sickness Questionnaire, and single-item measures of positive and negative emotion and arousal were measured pre- and post-VR for all participants. Qualitative feedback was collected through interviews with a subset of 19 participants. The interviews sought to understand the user experience of mindfulness practice in VR.

Results

State mindfulness (P<.001; Cohen d=1.80) and positive affect (P=.006; r=.45) significantly increased after using the VR mindfulness app. No notable changes in negative emotion, subjective arousal, or symptoms of simulator sickness were observed across the sample. Participants described the user experience as relaxing, calming, and peaceful. Participants suggested 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 sense of presence in the virtual environment (VE) was identified by participants as being helpful to practicing mindfulness. Interruptions to presence acted as distractors. Some uncomfortable experiences were discussed, primarily in relation to video fidelity and the weight of the VR headset, although these were infrequent and minor.

Conclusions

This study suggests that an appropriately designed VR app can support mindfulness practice by enhancing state mindfulness and inducing positive affect. VR may help address the challenges of practicing mindfulness by creating a sense of presence in a tailored VE; by allowing users to attend to visual and auditory anchors of their choice; and by reducing the scope of the content in users’ mind-wandering. VR has the unique capability to combine guided mindfulness practice with tailored VEs that lend themselves to support individuals to focus attention on the present moment.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7113800/

 

Enhance the Effectiveness of Mindfulness Training to Treat Anxiety Disorders with Virtual Reality

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Enhance the Effectiveness of Mindfulness Training to Treat Anxiety Disorders with Virtual Reality

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Mindfulness allows us to interrupt automatic, reflexive fight, flight, or freeze reactions—reactions that can lead to anxiety, fear, foreboding, and worry.” – Bob Stahl

 

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the United States, affecting 40 million adults, or 18% of the population. A characterizing feature of anxiety disorders is that the suffer overly identifies with and personalizes their thoughts. The sufferer has recurring thoughts, such as impending disaster, that they may realize are unreasonable, but are unable to shake. Health anxiety is a fear of a serious illness can interfere with their daily life. It often leads to seeking unnecessary testing and to spend days consumed by worry. Health anxiety is a relatively common condition, affecting 4% to 5% of both men and women equally.

 

Anxiety disorders have generally been treated with drugs. But there are considerable side effects and these drugs are often abused. There are a number of psychological therapies for anxiety. But, about 45% of the patients treated do not respond to the therapy. So, there is a need to develop alternative treatments. Recently, it has been found that mindfulness training can be effective for anxiety disorders.

 

Technology has recently been applied to training in mindfulness. Indeed, mindfulness training carried out completely on-line has been shown to be effective for as number of conditions. But, now virtual reality (VR) devices are improving and becoming readily available. Previously it has been shown the virtual reality (VR) can be helpful in treating phobias. and Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). But, it is not known if VR can enhance the effectiveness of mindfulness training in the treatment of Anxiety Disorders.

 

In today’s Research News article “Evaluation of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention With and Without Virtual Reality Dialectical Behavior Therapy® Mindfulness Skills Training for the Treatment of Generalized Anxiety Disorder in Primary Care: A Pilot Study.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00055/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_896935_69_Psycho_20190131_arts_A ), Navarro-Haro and colleagues recruited adults with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) and provided them with a group based once per week 90 minute mindfulness training session for 7 weeks. Half the participants were randomly assigned to receive an additional 10-minute virtual reality session (mindful river world) in combination with mindfulness instructions. They were measured before and after training for mindfulness, generalized anxiety disorder, depression, emotion regulation, and interoceptive awareness. In addition, before and after the virtual reality sessions they were measured for emotional state and sense of presence.

 

They found that the addition of virtual reality significantly increased the completion rates for the treatment, where 70% of the mindfulness treatment group completed the program, 100% of the participants who received additional virtual reality completed participation. They also found that both groups had large and significant improvements in generalized anxiety disorder, mindfulness, depression, emotion regulation, and interoceptive awareness. But the virtual reality group had significantly greater improvements in the non-judging facet of mindfulness and in interference in emotion regulation. The first virtual reality session produced significant improvements in the participants’ emotional states. But by the last session the improvements across the session markedly diminished.

 

The results are interesting and suggest that mindfulness training is effective for the treatment of generalized anxiety disorders. They further suggest that the addition of virtual reality training significantly improves non-judging mindfulness and the ability to not let strong negative emotions interfere with concentration and everyday tasks. Importantly, the addition of virtual reality significantly improved the completion rate. To have a maximum impact on generalized anxiety disorder completing the therapy program is important. The improved engagement in the mindfulness program provided by the addition of virtual reality sessions suggests that this addition is important for maximizing the treatment’s effectiveness.

 

So, enhance the effectiveness of mindfulness training to treat anxiety disorders with virtual reality.

 

“Anxiety is the “check engine light” on our psychophysiological dashboard. It lets us know the system needs some balancing. Agitation is therefore not our enemy; ideally, we see it as a wake up call for mindfulness practice.” – Mitch Abblett

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Navarro-Haro MV, Modrego-Alarcón M, Hoffman HG, López-Montoyo A, Navarro-Gil M, Montero-Marin J, García-Palacios A, Borao L and García-Campayo J (2019) Evaluation of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention With and Without Virtual Reality Dialectical Behavior Therapy® Mindfulness Skills Training for the Treatment of Generalized Anxiety Disorder in Primary Care: A Pilot Study. Front. Psychol. 10:55. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00055

 

ABSTRACT

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is a very prevalent disorder in primary care (PC). Most patients with GAD never seek treatment, and those who do seek treatment often drop out before completing treatment. Although it is an understudied treatment, Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBIs) indicate preliminary efficacy for the treatment of GAD symptoms, but many patients with GAD present other associated symptoms (e.g., attention deficits) that complicate the treatment. Virtual Reality DBT® Mindfulness Skills learning has recently been developed to make learning mindfulness easier for patients with emotion dysregulation who have trouble concentrating. Virtual Reality (VR) might serve as a visual guide for practicing mindfulness as it gives patients the illusion of “being there” in the 3D computer generated world. The main goal of this study was to evaluate the effect of two MBIs (a MBI in a group setting alone and the same MBI plus 10 min VR DBT® Mindfulness skills training) to reduce GAD symptoms. A secondary aim was to explore the effect in depression, emotion regulation, mindfulness, and interoceptive awareness. Other exploratory aims regarding the use of VR DBT® Mindfulness skills were also carried out. The sample was composed of 42 patients (roughly half in each group) with GAD attending PC visits. After treatment, both groups of patients showed significant improvements in General Anxiety Disorder measured by the GAD-7 using mixed regression models [MBI alone (B = -5.70; p < 0.001; d = -1.36), MBI+VR DBT® Mindfulness skills (B = -4.38; p < 0.001; d = -1.33)]. Both groups also showed significant improvements in anxiety, depression, difficulties of emotion regulation and several aspects of mindfulness and interoceptive awareness. Patients in the group that received additional 10 min VR DBT Mindfulness Skills training were significantly more adherent to the treatment than those receiving only standard MBI (100% completion rate in MBI + VR vs. 70% completion rate in MBI alone; Fisher = 0.020). Although randomized controlled studies with larger samples are needed, this pilot study shows preliminary effectiveness of MBI to treat GAD, and preliminary evidence that adjunctive VR DBT® Mindfulness Skills may reduce dropouts.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00055/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_896935_69_Psycho_20190131_arts_A

 

Virtual Reality Enhances Meditative Experience

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Virtual Reality Enhances Meditative Experience

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“It seems that a technology that pries your eyes and ears wide open to absorb as much sensory input as possible is working at cross-purposes with a discipline that asks you to forgo distraction, to close your eyes and direct your attention inward.” – Michael Gollust

 

Over the last several decades, research and anecdotal experiences have accumulated an impressive evidential case that the development of mindfulness has positive benefits for the individual’s mental, physical, and spiritual life. Mindfulness appears to be beneficial both for healthy people and for people suffering from a myriad of illnesses. It appears to be beneficial across ages, from children to the elderly. And it appears to be beneficial across genders, personalities, race, and ethnicity. The breadth and depth of benefits is unprecedented. There is no other treatment or practice that has been shown to come anyway near the range of mindfulness’ positive benefits. With impacts so great it is important to know how to promote the development of mindfulness even in individuals who dislike or avoid the discipline of practice.

 

Technology has recently been applied to training in mindfulness. Indeed, mindfulness training carried out completely on-line has been shown to be effective for as number of conditions. But, now virtual reality (VR) devices are improving and becoming readily available. Previously it has been shown the virtual reality (VR) can be helpful in treating phobias. and Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). But, can VR enhance the development of mindfulness?

 

In today’s Research News article “Meditation experts try Virtual Reality Mindfulness: A pilot study evaluation of the feasibility and acceptability of Virtual Reality to facilitate mindfulness practice in people attending a Mindfulness conference.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5699841/ ), Navarro-Haro and colleagues had mindfulness experts who were attending a conference on mindfulness evaluate a Virtual Reality system that was designed to enhance the instructions of Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT). They had the experts wear a VR helmet that presented a scene of floating “down a calm 3D computer generated virtual river while listening to digitized DBT mindfulness skills training instructions.” They listened to one of three 10-minute DBT instructions on “Wise Mind, Observing Sound, or Observing visuals.” Before and after the VR experience they were measured for mindfulness, state of presence, their emotional state, including happiness, sadness, anger, surprise, anxiety, relax/calm vigor/energy, previous experience with technologies and the acceptability of the method.

 

They found that in comparison to their pre-VR state, after the session the participants had significantly higher levels of mindfulness and relaxation and lower levels of sadness, anger, and anxiety. The system was acceptable as the participants gave high ratings to it and the experience. This acceptability was also significantly correlated with the changes in emotions. These results suggest that in the eyes of experts on mindfulness, using Virtual Reality to enhance mindfulness instruction was a good thing and made them feel more mindful and emotionally better.

 

This is a good start. Of course, the next step will be to determine if VR is acceptable and can enhance mindfulness instruction in individuals who were not adept at, or practiced mindfulness. Additionally, this was an extremely short-term experience. It will be necessary to determine the effects of longer-term use of VR. Since, mindfulness training involves quieting the mind, it is possible that the VR stimulus environment may work counter to the goals of mindfulness practice. Finally, it will be necessary to try VR enhanced mindfulness training with individuals with physical and/or psychological problems.

 

Nevertheless, VR is an interesting technology that has been shown to help in treating some forms of psychological issues; phobias. and Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and holds promise for further applications. It may be a method that can help train mindfulness even in resistant individuals.

 

“As I continued my exploration of this virtual world, at some point I noticed my mind had gone completely still. The monkey-mind, that great enemy of meditation, mindfulness, and really, of life, had all but vanished. I’d gone from zero to zen and the stillness that followed was glorious.’ – Mind Prana

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Navarro-Haro, M. V., López-del-Hoyo, Y., Campos, D., Linehan, M. M., Hoffman, H. G., García-Palacios, A., … García-Campayo, J. (2017). Meditation experts try Virtual Reality Mindfulness: A pilot study evaluation of the feasibility and acceptability of Virtual Reality to facilitate mindfulness practice in people attending a Mindfulness conference. PLoS ONE, 12(11), e0187777. http://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0187777

 

Abstract

Regular mindfulness practice benefits people both mentally and physically, but many populations who could benefit do not practice mindfulness. Virtual Reality (VR) is a new technology that helps capture participants’ attention and gives users the illusion of “being there” in the 3D computer generated environment, facilitating sense of presence. By limiting distractions from the real world, increasing sense of presence and giving people an interesting place to go to practice mindfulness, Virtual Reality may facilitate mindfulness practice. Traditional Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT®) mindfulness skills training was specifically designed for clinical treatment of people who have trouble focusing attention, however severe patients often show difficulties or lack of motivation to practice mindfulness during the training. The present pilot study explored whether a sample of mindfulness experts would find useful and recommend a new VR Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT®) mindfulness skills training technique and whether they would show any benefit. Forty four participants attending a mindfulness conference put on an Oculus Rift DK2 Virtual Reality helmet and floated down a calm 3D computer generated virtual river while listening to digitized DBT® mindfulness skills training instructions. On subjective questionnaires completed by the participants before and after the VR DBT® mindfulness skills training session, participants reported increases/improvements in state of mindfulness, and reductions in negative emotional states. After VR, participants reported significantly less sadness, anger, and anxiety, and reported being significantly more relaxed. Participants reported a moderate to strong illusion of going inside the 3D computer generated world (i.e., moderate to high “presence” in VR) and showed high acceptance of VR as a technique to practice mindfulness. These results show encouraging preliminary evidence of the feasibility and acceptability of using VR to practice mindfulness based on clinical expert feedback. VR is a technology with potential to increase computerized dissemination of DBT® skills training modules. Future research is warranted.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5699841/

Improve Borderline Personality Disorder Therapy with Virtual Reality

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By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Through virtual reality, the brain can succumb to compelling evidence that you are actually somewhere else. . . not only putting users in a relaxing location, but also completing the exercises, can shift your mood and teach you to live a more mindful life — overcoming the stresses encountered in everyday life.” – Naomi Cornman

 

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a very serious mental illness that is estimated to affect 1.6% of the U.S. population. It involves unstable moods, behavior, and relationships, problems with regulating emotions and thoughts, impulsive and reckless behavior, and unstable relationships. BPD is associated with high rates of co-occurring depression, anxiety disorders, substance abuse, eating disorders, self-harm, suicidal behaviors, and completed suicides. Needless to say, it is widespread and debilitating.

 

One of the few treatments that appears to be effective for Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). It is targeted at changing the problem behaviors characteristic of BPD including self-injury. Behavior change is accomplished through focusing on changing the thoughts and emotions that precede problem behaviors, as well as by solving the problems faced by individuals that contribute to problematic thoughts, feelings and behaviors. In DPT five core skills are practiced; mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, the middle path, and interpersonal effectiveness.

 

Technology is recently becoming applied to training in mindfulness. Indeed, mindfulness training carried out completely on-line has been shown to be effective for as number of conditions. But, now virtual reality (VR) devices are improving and becoming readily available. Previously it has been shown the virtual reality (VR) can be helpful in treating phobias. It is not known, however, if VR can be used in mindfulness training and in the treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD).

 

In today’s Research News article “The Use of Virtual Reality to Facilitate Mindfulness Skills Training in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy for Borderline Personality Disorder: A Case Study.” See:

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1429942637029658/?type=3&theater

or see summary below or view the full text of the study at:

http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01573/full?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Psychology-w45-2016

Nararro-Haro and colleagues performed a single subject case study of the use of VR to potentiate the effects of the mindfulness training used in Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). The participant was a 32-year old woman who was diagnosed with BPD. She was being treated with Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) but was having difficulty with the mindfulness component of DBT. In addition to the standard DBT virtual reality (VR) of floating down a gentle river was used along with the DBT mindfulness audio tracks. The participant was measured during and after training for mindfulness, mood, urges and dysfunctional behaviors.

 

After treatment, the participant had marked reductions in urges to commit suicide, harm herself, quit therapy, and substance abuse. In addition, she had markedly reduced negative emotions. These results are encouraging but there was only a single subject, there was no control condition, and there was no follow-up. So, no firm conclusions about effectiveness can be reached. But the results demonstrate that virtual reality can be employed to help potentiate the effectiveness of therapy of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) for Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD).

 

So, improve borderline personality disorder therapy with virtual reality

 

“Traditional exposure therapy is easier to do when the phobia is of something common and easily accessible. A person afraid of dogs can visit a neighbor’s dog. An agoraphobic can slowly venture outside for short periods of time. But treating phobias like fear of flying or fear of sharks with traditional exposure therapy may be expensive or impractical in real life. That’s where VR has a major advantage. Treating PTSD with VR works similarly, exposing patients to a simulation of a feared situation (a battle in Iraq, for example), and appears to be just as effective.” –  Emily Matchar

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts

 

Study Summary

Nararro-Haro MV, Hoffman HG, Garcia-Palacios A, Sampaio M, Alhalabi W, Hall K and Linehan M (2016) The Use of Virtual Reality to Facilitate Mindfulness Skills Training in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy for Borderline Personality Disorder: A Case Study. Front. Psychol. 7:1573. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01573

 

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a severe mental disorder characterized by a dysfunctional pattern of affective instability, impulsivity, and disturbed interpersonal relationships. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT®) is the most effective treatment for Borderline Personality Disorder, but demand for DBT® far exceeds existing clinical resources. Most patients with BPD never receive DBT®. Incorporating computer technology into the DBT® could help increase dissemination. Immersive Virtual Reality technology (VR) is becoming widely available to mainstream consumers. This case study explored the feasibility/clinical potential of using immersive virtual reality technology to enhance DBT® mindfulness skills training of a 32 year old female diagnosed with BPD. Prior to using VR, the patient experienced difficulty practicing DBT® mindfulness due to her emotional reactivity, and difficulty concentrating. To help the patient focus her attention, and to facilitate DBT® mindfulness skills learning, the patient looked into virtual reality goggles, and had the illusion of slowly “floating down” a 3D computer-generated river while listening to DBT® mindfulness training audios. Urges to commit suicide, urges to self harm, urges to quit therapy, urges to use substances, and negative emotions were all reduced after each VR mindfulness session and VR mindfulness was well accepted/liked by the patient. Although case studies are scientifically inconclusive by nature, results from this feasibility study were encouraging. Future controlled studies are needed to quantify whether VR-enhanced mindfulness training has long term benefits e.g., increasing patient acceptance and/or improving therapeutic outcome. Computerizing some of the DBT® skills treatment modules would reduce cost and increase dissemination.

http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01573/full?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Psychology-w45-2016