Recent improvements in virtual reality (VR) allow for the representation of authentic environments and multiple users in a shared complex virtual world in real time. These advances have fostered clinical applications including in psychiatry. However, although VR is already used in clinical settings to help people with mental disorders (e.g., exposure therapy), the related ethical issues require greater attention. Based on a thematic literature search the authors identified five themes that raise ethical concerns related to the clinical use of VR: (1) reality and its representation, (2) autonomy, (3) privacy, (4) self-diagnosis and self-treatment, and (5) expectation bias. Reality and its representation is a theme that lies at the heart of VR, but is also of specific significance in a clinical context when perceptions of reality are concerned, for example, during psychosis. Closely associated is the autonomy of VR users. Although autonomy is a much-considered topic in biomedical ethics, it has not been sufficiently discussed when it comes to applications of VR in psychiatry. In this review, the authors address the different themes and recommend the development of an ethical framework for the clinical use of VR.
The "Historic Study" SOLIDARITY-Research's Answer to the Sars-CoV-2 Pandemic This paper is part of Forum COVID-19: Perspectives in the Humanities and Social Sciences. The novel coronavirus (Sars-CoV-2) poses a huge challenge to the world community. Knowledge about the virus and its properties is limited, but there is a great need to base political and medical decisions on scientific knowledge. This situation is leading to a dynamization of research. A prominent example of such a development is SOLIDARITY. The epistemological dimensions of this trial, which is coordinated by the WHO, and the resulting ethical implications are discussed in this article. Dieser Beitrag ist Teil des Forums COVID-19: Perspektiven in den Geistes-und Sozialwissenschaften. Das neuartige Coronavirus (Sars-CoV-2) stellt die Weltgemeinschaft vor eine große Herausforderung. Das Wissen über das Virus und seine Eigenschaften ist lückenhaft, aber der Bedarf, politische und medizinische Entscheidungen an wissenschaftlicher Erkenntnis auszurichten ist groß. Diese Lage führt zu einer Dynamisierung der Forschung. Ein prominentes Beispiel ist die WHO-Studie SOLIDARITY. Die epistemologischen Besonderheiten und die daraus resultierenden ethischen Implikationen werden in diesem Beitrag näher beleuchtet.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.