Use of virtual reality games in people with depression and anxiety

Lin, Alice J.; Cheng, Fuhua; Chen, Charles B.

doi:10.1145/3381271.3381299

Cited by 17 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…A total of 34 articles were selected for this scoping review ( Multimedia Appendix 2 [ 14 , 15 , 25 - 56 ]). Articles with no available information were discarded during the plotting.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Multimedia Appendix 3 shows most articles published in the year 2019 [ 25 - 36 ], comprising 35% (12/34) of the total articles. Articles published in 2018 [ 37 - 43 ] and 2020 [ 15 , 44 - 49 ] were of equal proportions (7/34, 21%), whereas those published in 2017 [ 14 , 50 - 53 ] were the third highest (5/34, 15%). Recent publications from early 2021 [ 54 - 56 ] were also selected (3/34, 9%).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fewer studies (4/34, 12%) focused on using VR therapy exclusively for the treatment of individuals with depression [ 15 , 26 , 36 , 43 ]; 15% (5/34) of studies targeted multiple conditions such as stress [ 25 , 35 ] or posttraumatic stress disorder [ 44 , 55 ] or panic disorder [ 32 ], in addition to anxiety and depression.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…VR might be one of the most exciting, emerging technologies that is rapidly gaining traction in the treatment of anxiety and depression [ 13 - 15 ]. VR exposure therapy (VRET) is a modern type of exposure therapy that follows the same procedures as traditional exposure therapy, with the only difference being that the feared objects or situations are rendered within a virtual environment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Virtual Reality for Supporting the Treatment of Depression and Anxiety: Scoping Review

Baghaei¹,

Chitale²,

Hlasnik³

et al. 2021

JMIR Ment Health

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Background Mental health conditions pose a major challenge to health care providers and society at large. The World Health Organization predicts that by 2030, mental health conditions will be the leading cause of disease burden worldwide. The current need for mental health care is overwhelming. In New Zealand, 1 in 6 adults has 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 technologies emerging in the clinical setting for the treatment of anxiety and depression. Objective This study aims to investigate the virtual reality (VR) technologies currently being used to help support the treatment of depression and anxiety. We also aim to investigate whether and how CBT is included as part of VRET and look at the VR technologies and interventions that have been used in recent studies on depression and anxiety. Methods We performed a scoping review. To identify significant studies, we decided to use already aggregated sources from the Google Scholar database. Overall, the goal of our search strategy was to limit the number of initial results related to VR in mental health to only a relevant minimum. Results Using our defined keywords, Google Scholar identified >17,300 articles. After applying all the inclusion and exclusion criteria, we identified a total of 369 articles for further processing. After manual evaluation, 34 articles were shortlisted; of the 34 articles, 9 (26%) reported the use of CBT with VR. All of the articles were published between 2017 and 2021. Out of the 9 studies, CBT was conducted within a VR environment in 5 (56%) studies, whereas in the remaining 4 (44%) studies, CBT was used as an addition to VRET. All 9 studies reported the use of CBT either in vivo or in a virtual environment to be effective in supporting the treatment of anxiety or depression. Conclusions Most studies demonstrated the use of VR to be effective for supporting the treatment of anxiety or depression in a range of settings and recommended its potential as a tool for use in a clinical environment. Even though standalone headsets are much easier to work with and more suitable for home use, the shift from tethered VR headsets to standalone headsets in the mental health environment was not observed. All studies that looked at the use of CBT either in vivo or in a virtual environment found it to be effective in supporting the treatment of anxiety or depression.

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“…A total of 34 articles were selected for this scoping review ( Multimedia Appendix 2 [ 14 , 15 , 25 - 56 ]). Articles with no available information were discarded during the plotting.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Virtual Reality for Supporting the Treatment of Depression and Anxiety: Scoping Review

Baghaei¹,

Chitale²,

Hlasnik³

et al. 2021

JMIR Ment Health

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“…Depressive disorder is a common but serious mood disorder affecting how one feels, thinks and even control his/her daily activities, such as sleeping, eating or working. The use of virtual reality applications has been proven to be effective in reducing the severity of such disorders [30,31].…”

Section: Depressive Disordermentioning

confidence: 99%

Virtual reality among children with mental disorders: A mini-review

Rasoulian-Kasrineh

Tabatabaei

2021

Adv Health Behav

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Background: Mental disorders are a group of disorders that affect thinking and behavior by causing discomfort or disability to the person. Almost one in eight people aged 5 to 19 deals with these kinds of disorders and his or her growth may be significantly affected. It seems that using novel technologies in such cases are helpful. One of these advanced technologies, which has recently attracted a lot of attention in many fields such as health, is Virtual Reality. Therefore, the present study aimed to provide a brief review about the use of Virtual Reality among children with mental disorders. Methods: In this study, articles in which Virtual Reality were used among children dealing with mental disorders published during 2012 to 2021 were investigated. PsycINFO electronic databases, PubMed Google Scholar, Medline, were searched. Results: Children deal with different types of mental disorders and Virtual Reality has been used for many of them. The most common of them, in which Virtual Reality have been used and caused improvements include Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Anxiety Disorder, Conduct Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Depressive Disorder, Schizophrenia Disorder, and Developmental Disability. Discussion and conclusion: According to the results, Virtual Reality is a very interesting, useful, effective and safe technology for patients dealing with mental disorders especially children and adolescence. It is actually a highly specialized technology which can provide improvement, and in some cases completely new ways of treatment for children suffering from mental disorders.

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