Harnessing virtual reality for disaster mental health: A systematic review.

Abstract

Widespread disasters, such as hurricanes, terrorist attacks, and viral outbreaks, represent a unique class of stressors that increase the demand for mental health care but also limit access to services. During the course of COVID-19, an unprecedented global pandemic, the detrimental effects of fear, uncertainty, and social isolation have particularly strained existing structures for psychological care. Virtual reality (VR) represents a promising means to address this still-growing need. Although VR has been applied in medical settings for decades, no existing literature has synthesized the strength of empirical support for VR's acceptability, feasibility, and efficacy in the context of disaster mental health. In an attempt to fill this urgent need, the present systematic review summarizes the findings of 21 diverse studies of VR as a tool for disaster-related psychological resilience training, psychological first aid, or counseling. With an eye toward VR's potential utility to address the incredible need for services created by the COVID-19 pandemic, we offer recommendations for key future directions and methodological considerations in the context of disaster mental health.What is the significance of this article for the general public?This systematic review contributes to a wider understanding of virtual reality and other technological advancements as acceptable, widely applicable enhancements to mental health interventions for community disasters. Virtual reality has great potential to address barriers to treatment highlighted by the recent COVID-19 pandemic, including high stress levels, geographic distance from providers, and social isolation.

The Symbiosis of Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy and Telemental Health: A Review

“…Telepresence facilitates gestures and body language like in-person interactions while also isolating users' visual and auditory experience to the virtual environment. The immersive characteristics of VR make it an ideal solution to some common barriers of standard TMH (Boydstun et al, 2021;Di Carlo et al, 2021;Matamala-Gomez et al, 2021;Pimentel et al, 2021;Sampaio et al, 2021).…”

The Effectiveness of Virtual Reality Intervention for COVID-19-Related Psychological Distress: A Systematic Review

“…Additionally, VR interventions demonstrated effectiveness in case of natural disasters. VR-based interventions effectively alleviated PTSD symptoms, anxiety, and depression caused by natural disasters [ 31 , 32 ]. Metaanalysis studies have shown moderate to large effects of VR interventions compared to control conditions for anxiety and depression outcomes (e.g., waitlist, placebo, relaxation, and treatment as usual) [ 33 ], and a large effect size for VR therapy on anxiety disorders, which was comparable to in vivo conditions [ 34 ].…”

“…VR-based interventions effectively alleviated PTSD symptoms, anxiety, and depression caused by natural disasters. 31,32 Metaanalysis studies have shown moderate to large effects of VR interventions compared to control conditions for anxiety and depression outcomes (e.g., waitlist, placebo, relaxation, and treatment as usual), 33 and a large effect size for VR therapy on anxiety disorders, which was comparable to in vivo conditions. 34 Prior studies revealed the potential of digital therapeutic technology like as immersive VR that offer cost-effective, scalable, and on-demand solution to address mental problems.…”

Recent advances in virtual reality and psychology: Introduction to the special issue.

“…Finally, Boydstun et al (2021) present a systematic review of research on the acceptability, feasibility, and efficacy of VR interventions in the context of disasters. They review documents VR’s promise in this area, and may serve to encourage the development of modern VR interventions and large-scale studies to address this highly relevant societal need.…”