scholarly journals Freely Available Virtual Reality Experiences as Tools to Support Mental Health Therapy: a Systematic Scoping Review and Consensus Based Interdisciplinary Analysis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Best ◽  
Matilde Meireles ◽  
Franziska Schroeder ◽  
Lorna Montgomery ◽  
Alan Maddock ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Stress Reduction ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Therapeutic Potential ◽  
Behavioural Therapy ◽  
Therapeutic Interventions ◽  
Health Practitioner ◽  
Case Formulation ◽  
Therapeutic Value

AbstractThe primary purpose of this article is to review the potential therapeutic value of freely available VR content as an addition to the practitioners ‘toolkit’. Research has shown that virtual reality (VR) may be useful to extend existing guided imagery-based practices found in traditional mental health therapy. However, the use of VR technology within routine mental health practice remains low, despite recent reductions in equipment costs. A systematic scoping review and interdisciplinary analysis of freely available VR experiences was performed across two popular online databases (SteamVR and Oculus.com). A total of 1785 experiences were retrieved and screened for relevance with 46 meeting the inclusion criteria. VR content was then reviewed for potential therapeutic value by an interdisciplinary panel with experience across a number of therapeutic interventions including cognitive behavioural therapy, Rogerian counselling, mindfulness-based therapies. and family therapy. Eleven (22%) of the 50 freely available VR experiences were reported to have therapeutic potential as tools to support routine mental health therapy. These included support with the following mental health issues—low mood, social anxiety, stress reduction and fear of heights. Guidance of a qualified mental health practitioner was recommended in all cases to maximise the benefit of the VR experiences retrieved. While the quality is variable, freely available VR experiences may contain valuable content that could support mental health therapy. This includes as a homework activity or as an initial setting for case formulation and behavioural experiments.

scholarly journals Combined Use of Virtual Reality and a Chatbot Reduces Emotional Stress More Than Using Them Separately

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (12) ◽  
pp. 1371-1389
Author(s):  
Atsuko Matsumoto ◽  
Takeshi Kamita ◽  
Yukari Tawaratsumida ◽  
Ayako Nakamura ◽  
Harumi Fukuchimoto ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Emotional Stress ◽  
Stress Reduction ◽  
Self Care ◽  
Care Process ◽  
Emotional Labour ◽  
Combined Use ◽  
Reduction Effect

In recent years, various organizations, such as companies and governments, have been required to take measures for the mental health of their employees, and the importance of self-care for mental health by employees themselves has been increasing, as well as being supported by administrators, such as doctors and workplace managers. As a means of self-care of mental health that can be implemented by busy professionals during their workdays and daily lives, the Digital-SAT method has been developed to implement the stress-care process of the SAT method, a psychological counseling technique for resolving psychological stress problems, in a self-guided manner using digital media. To realize the Digital-SAT method, two issues need to be addressed: first, to obtain the same emotional stress reduction effect as the SAT method and, second, to ensure the continuous implementation of the Digital-SAT method. Previous studies have shown that applications (apps) using virtual reality are effective in solving the former issue, and an app using a chatbot can be effective in solving the latter. In this research, an intervention study was conducted to verify the effectiveness of combined use of the two apps to encourage continuous use, resulting in increased emotional stress reduction, with the aim of making it feasible in actual work environments. An intervention of four weeks of app use was conducted with 70 nurses working in two hospitals where measures for mental health due to emotional labour and overwork were required. The emotional stress reduction effects of the intervention were evaluated using psychological scales and blood pressure levels, and it was confirmed that combined use of apps was more effective than using them separately to practice the Digital-SAT method in an actual work environment.

Use of Mental Health Interventions by Physiotherapists to Treat Individuals with Chronic Conditions: A Systematic Scoping Review

2021 ◽  
pp. e20200066
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Alvarez ◽  
Amanda Garvin ◽  
Nicole Germaine ◽  
Lisa Guidoni ◽  
Meghan Schnurr
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Chronic Conditions ◽  
Health Management ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Behavioural Change ◽  
Behavioural Therapy ◽  
Health Interventions ◽  
Psychosocial Model ◽  
Mental Health Interventions

Purpose: Physiotherapists work with people with chronic conditions and can act as catalysts for behavioural change. Physiotherapy has also seen a shift to a bio-psychosocial model of health management and interdisciplinary care, which is important in the context of chronic conditions. This scoping review addressed the research question “How do physiotherapists use mental health–based interventions in their treatment of individuals with chronic conditions?” Method: The Embase, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and CINAHL databases were searched, and a variety of study designs were included. Data were categorized and descriptively analyzed. Results: Data were extracted from 103 articles. Low back pain (43; 41.7%) and non-specified pain (16; 15.5%) were the most commonly researched chronic conditions, but other chronic conditions were also represented. Outpatient facilities were the most common setting for intervention (68; 66.0%). A total of 73 (70.9%) of the articles involved cognitive­–behavioural therapy, and 41 (40.0%) included graded exercise or graded activity as a mental health intervention. Conclusions: Physiotherapists can use a variety of mental health interventions in the treatment of chronic conditions. More detailed descriptions of treatment and training protocols would be helpful for incorporating these techniques into clinical practice.

The Mental Health Practitioner and Psychopharmacology

2007 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 204-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Kaut ◽  
Josephine Dickinson
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Therapeutic Potential ◽  
Treatment Options ◽  
Health Assessment ◽  
Health Service Delivery ◽  
Health Practitioner ◽  
Mental Health Practitioner ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Mental Health Service Delivery

Today's mental health practitioner is likely to be quite familiar with a rather diverse range of pharmacological issues confronting clients seeking mental health services. Indeed, drug therapies are commonplace, and in some cases, might be viewed as the primary intervention for a presenting problem. Pharmacological approaches to mental health concerns can be effective, and provide treatment options with significant therapeutic potential. Nevertheless, the current pharmacological and ever-growing biomedical milieu that so often characterizes modern health care can potentially undermine the importance of the bio-psycho-social perspective of mental health assessment and intervention. The growing emphasis on pharmacotherapy must certainly be recognized by the mental health practitioner, but frameworks for mental health service delivery should continually identify better ways to integrate pharmacological options with the psychological and socio-cultural context that influence the behaviors, cognitions, and emotions of clients.

scholarly journals A Scoping Review of Augmented/Virtual Reality Health and Wellbeing Interventions for Older Adults: Redefining Immersive Virtual Reality

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanne Carroll ◽  
Louise Hopper ◽  
Aaron Mark Farrelly ◽  
Richard Lombard-Vance ◽  
Panagiotis D. Bamidis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Cognitively Impaired ◽  
Inclusion Criteria ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
Augmented Reality Technology ◽  
Interactive Videos

Augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) technologies are regularly used in psychology research to complement psychological interventions and to enable an individual to feel as if they are in an environment other than that of their immediate surroundings. A scoping review was performed to identify how AR/VR was being used with older adult populations to impact their physical and mental health. The review also sought to determine whether the terminology used in AR/VR research was consistent. The results show that 65 studies have been published in the last 20 years that meet the inclusion criteria (virtual/augmented reality) technology to impact older adults’ physical/mental health and wellbeing. Participants included healthy, physically, and cognitively impaired, and emotionally vulnerable older adults. We argue that over 70% of the studies included in this review were mislabeled as VR and only six papers included fully immersive VR/AR. The remaining studies use less immersive variants of virtual reality with their populations, and only one study made use of AR, which prompted the suggestion of a new definition for virtual reality. This paper also calls for an updated taxonomy of augmented and virtual reality definitions to address the lack of consistency found in studies that identify themselves as AR/VR when they are using less immersive technical set-ups, including displaying non-interactive videos on 2D screens.

scholarly journals Biobehavioral utility of mindfulness-based art therapy: Neurobiological underpinnings and mental health impacts

2019 ◽  
Vol 245 (2) ◽  
pp. 122-130
Author(s):  
Megan E Beerse ◽  
Theresa Van Lith ◽  
Scott M Pickett ◽  
Gregg D Stanwood
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Art Therapy ◽  
Stress Reduction ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Therapeutic Potential ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Adaptive Responses ◽  
Validation Data ◽  
Therapeutic Benefits ◽  
Mindfulness Practices

Mindfulness-based art therapy (MBAT) combines mindfulness practices with art therapy to promote health, wellness, and adaptive responses to stress. Mindfulness-based stress reduction programs have been demonstrated to reduce anxiety symptoms in people with generalized anxiety disorder and serious medical conditions such as cancer. However, the benefits of MBAT specifically—not just in clinical anxiety disorders, but also for routine day-to-day anxiousness—have received little attention until recently. In this mini-review, we summarize how several established mindfulness-based interventions affect mental health with a specific focus on MBAT. We also describe and evaluate data indicating involvement of specific neural circuits and neuroendocrine markers of stress and/or anxiety. Lastly, we suggest areas of focus for future rigorous research on MBAT interventions and propose multiple biobehavioral and physiological mechanisms through which therapeutic benefits may be achieved. Impact statement Recent studies demonstrate the therapeutic potential of intensive MBAT and other mindfulness-based interventions for severe health conditions including cancer, heart disease, and anxiety, with effectiveness that rivals and sometimes even exceeds cognitive behavior therapy. MBAT-based approaches appear to be poised to mature into large-scale, cost-effective therapies for mental health disorders and symptoms comorbid with other serious health issues. However, the field currently suffers from inconsistent deployment protocols and needs additional validation data—at the behavioral, neuroendocrine, and neural levels—in order to establish best practices.

scholarly journals Interventions to Optimise Mental Health Outcomes During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Scoping Review

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Safieh ◽  
John Broughan ◽  
Geoff McCombe ◽  
Niamh McCarthy ◽  
Timothy Frawley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Treatment Strategies ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Poor Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Outcomes ◽  
Therapeutic Interventions ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Future Research

AbstractAdverse mental health has been a major consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. This review examines interventions to enhance mental health outcomes and well-being of populations during COVID-19. Four electronic databases (MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Embase, and CINAHL) were searched following Arskey and O’Malley’s six-staged scoping review process. Twenty studies were included in the review. Various study populations were included to ensure greater generalisability of results. Interventions informing treatment of mental health concerns during COVID-19 were included and classified into (a) prevention of poor mental health, (b) therapeutic interventions, and (c) other interventions. Preventative strategies (n = 16) included public health education, modified social media use, technology-based interventions, physical activity, policy adaptations, and therapeutic interventions. Treatment strategies (n = 7) included adapting existing treatment and the creation new treatment programmes and platforms. While current evidence is promising, future research should focus on novel effective interventions to address mental health issues during the pandemic.

Virtual Reality for Supporting Depression and Anxiety: A Scoping Review (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nilufar Baghaei ◽  
Vibhav Chitale ◽  
Andrej Hlasnik ◽  
Lehan Stemmet ◽  
Hai-Ning Liang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Google Scholar ◽  
Health Conditions ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy ◽  
Mental Health Conditions ◽  
Virtual Reality Exposure

BACKGROUND Mental health conditions pose a major challenge to healthcare providers and society at large. The World Health Organization (WHO) predicts that by 2030, mental health conditions will be the leading disease burden globally. The current need for mental health care is overwhelming. In New Zealand, one in six adults have been diagnosed with common mental disorders such as depression, and anxiety disorders according to a national survey. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been shown to effectively help patients overcome a wide variety of mental health conditions. Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET) might be one of the most exciting technology that is emerging in the clinical setting for the treatment of anxiety and depression. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to investigate what VR technologies are currently being used to help suppress depression and anxiety. Primarily we identified whether the CBT was included as part of the virtual reality exposure therapy treatment (VRET), and if so, how? Equally important, the focus was set not only on VR hardware and used software tools but also on what the participants did in the virtual environment and how the virtual environment looked like METHODS We performed a scoping review. To identify significant studies, we decided to use already aggregated sources in Google Scholar Database. Overall, the goal of our search strategy was to limit the number of initial results related to virtual reality in mental health to only a relevant minimum. RESULTS Using our defined key words, Google Scholar identified more than 17300 articles. After applying all inclusion and exclusion criteria, we identified a total of 369 articles for further processing. After manual evaluation, 34 articles were shortlisted, of which 9 reported the usage of CBT with VR. All these articles were published between 2017 and 2021. CONCLUSIONS Majority of the studies demonstrated the use of VR to be effective for suppressing anxiety or depression in a range of settings and recommended its potential as tool for usage in a clinical environment. As standalone headsets are much easier to work with and more suitable for home usage, the shift from tethered VR headsets to standalone headsets in the mental health environment was not observed. A total of 9 studies explicitly mentioned the usage of CBT. Out of these, CBT was conducted within a virtual reality environment in 5 studies while in the remaining 4 studies CBT was used as an addition to VRET. All 9 studies reported the use of CBT either in vivo or inside a virtual environment to be effective in suppressing anxiety or depression.

scholarly journals Using Virtual Reality for Long-Duration Space Missions

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 627-631
Author(s):  
Yash Joshi ◽  
Austin Mardon
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy ◽  
Exposure Therapy ◽  
Behavioural Therapy ◽  
Space Missions ◽  
Situational Factors ◽  
Literary Research ◽  
Long Duration ◽  
Cognitive Behavioural

Many organizations around the world are pursuing space exploration with hopes of going further and further away from Earth. Spaceflight itself has significant implications on humans, meaning that it is important to understand the magnitude of effects that astronauts would feel during these missions. Some pressing concerns are the increased isolation due to social interactions as well as situational factors, which would lead to a decline in mental and physical health. Additionally, the possibility of substance abuse due to stress and access to medications can lead to significant reductions in mental health. To deal with these issues, virtual reality has presented itself as a unique solution that would help provide better overall mental health. The technology is frequently used in various clinical settings to deal with anxiety and depression, through techniques such as exposure therapy and cognitive behavioural therapy. Exposure therapy for anxiety with virtual reality targets anxiety-causing stimulus and works towards changing the patient’s response, in a controlled setting. Cognitive behavioural therapy immerses the patient into a simulated world to provide them with experiences that mitigate the depression they are feeling. On the mission, exposure therapy would potentially be available to deal with stimulants of anxiety, while cognitive behavioural therapy would provide a happiness break. With further research in the field, virtual reality thus presents itself as a feasible opportunity to plan longer duration human space missions. This review compiles and investigates sources from literary research done in the respective fields.

scholarly journals Virtual reality exposure-based therapy as an emerging treatment modality for anxiety disorders

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenxuan Wang ◽  
Sean Wong
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Anxiety Disorders ◽  
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy ◽  
Treatment Modality ◽  
Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors ◽  
Behavioural Therapy ◽  
Everyday Functioning ◽  
Virtual Reality Technology ◽  
Cognitive Behavioural

Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent mental health condition, affecting one-third of the population during their lifetime. Patient with anxiety may experience overwhelming fear to an irrational fear that can impair  everyday functioning. Current treatment for anxiety disorders include pharmacological (i.e. selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) and psychological (i.e. cognitive behavioural therapy) intervention. Cognitive behavioural therapy is an effective exposure-based therapy utilizing repetitive exposure to the feared stimulus to develop desensitization and tolerance but holds high dropout rates due to unbearable anxiety for patients. Recognizing this challenge, virtual reality technology is emerging as a promising tool for patients to challenge their fear in a simulated environment based on individual progression. This article explores the new development of virtual reality technology as an effective treatment modality for anxiety disorders to enhance current approaches in mental health care.

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