Virtual reality clinical-experimental tests of compassion treatment techniques to reduce paranoia

Brown, Poppy; Rovira, Aitor; Nickless, Alecia; Freeman, Daniel

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-64957-7

Cited by 29 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Fewer studies have explored virtual reality treatments beyond exposure therapy, with the exception of skills training, which has also demonstrated positive results 99 . Pilot studies have also shown that virtual reality applications can guide people to learn therapeutic skills such as mindfulness 100‐102 , relaxation 103 and self‐compassion 104,105 . Using virtual reality as a vehicle to deliver experiences that help people develop skills to manage mental health difficulties may increase treatment engagement and efficacy.…”

Section: Tools and Technologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The growing field of digital psychiatry: current evidence and the future of apps, social media, chatbots, and virtual reality

et al. 2021

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As the COVID-19 pandemic has largely increased the utilization of telehealth, mobile mental health technologies -such as smartphone apps, virtual reality, chatbots, and social media -have also gained attention. These digital health technologies offer the potential of accessible and scalable interventions that can augment traditional care. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive update on the overall field of digital psychiatry, covering three areas. First, we outline the relevance of recent technological advances to mental health research and care, by detailing how smartphones, social media, artificial intelligence and virtual reality present new opportunities for "digital phenotyping" and remote intervention. Second, we review the current evidence for the use of these new technological approaches across different mental health contexts, covering their emerging efficacy in self-management of psychological well-being and early intervention, along with more nascent research supporting their use in clinical management of long-term psychiatric conditions -including major depression; anxiety, bipolar and psychotic disorders; and eating and substance use disorders -as well as in child and adolescent mental health care. Third, we discuss the most pressing challenges and opportunities towards real-world implementation, using the Integrated Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services (i-PARIHS) framework to explain how the innovations themselves, the recipients of these innovations, and the context surrounding innovations all must be considered to facilitate their adoption and use in mental health care systems. We conclude that the new technological capabilities of smartphones, artificial intelligence, social media and virtual reality are already changing mental health care in unforeseen and exciting ways, each accompanied by an early but promising evidence base. We point out that further efforts towards strengthening implementation are needed, and detail the key issues at the patient, provider and policy levels which must now be addressed for digital health technologies to truly improve mental health research and treatment in the future.

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Section: Tools and Technologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The growing field of digital psychiatry: current evidence and the future of apps, social media, chatbots, and virtual reality

et al. 2021

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“…Negative self-beliefs are also strongly associated with a lack of self-compassion [ 13 ]. Experimental manipulations have found that self-compassion interventions can reduce both negative beliefs [ 14 , 15 ], and paranoia in non-clinical [ 16 , 17 ] and clinical samples [ 18 ]. Compassionate interventions focused on beliefs about others also show promise.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parenting behaviour and paranoia: a network analysis and results from the National Comorbidity Survey-Adolescents (NCS-A)

Brown

Freeman

2020

Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol

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Purpose Parenting behaviours-including the extent to which parents are protective, hostile, or caring-likely impacts whether a child develops a sense of vulnerability that carries forward into adulthood. Ideas of vulnerability are a contributory factor to the occurrence of paranoia. Our aim was to assess whether there is an association between specific parenting behaviours and paranoia. Method We examined cross-sectional associations of parenting and paranoia in an epidemiologically representative cohort of 10,148 adolescents (National Comorbidity Survey-Adolescents; NCS-A) and a second dataset of 1286 adults in Oxfordshire. Further, a network analysis was conducted with paranoia, parenting behaviours, and cognitive-affective variables (compassion, self-esteem, anxiety, and depression). Overprotectiveness, verbal abuse, physical abuse, and amount of care were assessed in mothers and fathers separately. Results Nearly all parenting variables were significantly associated with paranoia, with parental verbal and physical abuse showing the largest associations. For example, the odds of reporting paranoia was over four times higher for those in the adult sample reporting a lot of paternal verbal abuse, compared to those reporting none (OR = 4.12, p < 0.001, CI 2.47-6.85). Network analyses revealed high interconnectivity between paranoia, parenting behaviours, and cognitive-affective variables. Of the parenting variables, paranoia most strongly interacted with paternal abuse and maternal lack of care. Conclusion There are associations between participants' self-reported experiences of parental behaviours and paranoia. Despite being associated with paranoia, cognitive-affective variables did not appear to mediate the relationship between parenting and paranoia, which is surprising. What might explain the link therefore remains to be determined.

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“…In students with unselected levels of paranoia, compassionate imagery techniques led to improvements in self-compassion, self-esteem and paranoia (Lincoln et al, 2013). In people from the general population reporting high levels of paranoia, compassionate imagery led to large effect size improvements in self-compassion and paranoia (Brown et al, 2020). A mediation analysis indicated that change in self-compassion explained 57% of the change in paranoia.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

A compassionate imagery intervention for patients with persecutory delusions

Forkert

Brown

Freeman

2021

Behav. Cogn. Psychother.

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Background: Negative beliefs about the self, including low self-compassion, have been identified as a putative causal factor in the occurrence of paranoia. Therefore, improving self-compassion may be one route to reduce paranoia. Aims: To assess the feasibility, acceptability, and potential clinical effects of a brief compassionate imagery intervention for patients with persecutory delusions. Method: Twelve patients with persecutory delusions received an individual four-session compassionate imagery intervention. Assessments of self-concept and paranoia were completed before treatment, immediately after treatment, and at 1-month follow-up. A qualitative study exploring participants’ experiences of the treatment was also completed. Results: Twelve out of 14 eligible patients referred to the study agreed to take part. All participants completed all therapy sessions and assessments. Post-treatment, there were improvements in self-compassion (change score –0.64, 95% CI –1.04, –0.24, d = –1.78), negative beliefs about the self (change score 2.42, 95% CI –0.37, 5.20, d = 0.51), and paranoia (change score 10.08, 95% CI 3.47, 16.69, d = 0.61). There were no serious adverse events. Three themes emerged from the qualitative analysis: ‘effortful learning’, ‘seeing change’ and ‘taking it forward’. Participants described a process of active and effortful engagement in therapy which was rewarded with positive changes, including feeling calmer, gaining clarity, and developing acceptance. Conclusion: This uncontrolled feasibility study indicates that a brief compassionate imagery intervention for patients with persecutory delusions is feasible, acceptable, and may lead to clinical benefits.

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Virtual reality clinical-experimental tests of compassion treatment techniques to reduce paranoia

Cited by 29 publications

References 36 publications

The growing field of digital psychiatry: current evidence and the future of apps, social media, chatbots, and virtual reality

The growing field of digital psychiatry: current evidence and the future of apps, social media, chatbots, and virtual reality

Parenting behaviour and paranoia: a network analysis and results from the National Comorbidity Survey-Adolescents (NCS-A)

A compassionate imagery intervention for patients with persecutory delusions

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