scholarly journals Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy for Driving Phobia Disorder (2): System Refinement and Verification

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 347
Author(s):  
Amy Trappey ◽  
Charles V. Trappey ◽  
Chia-Ming Chang ◽  
Meng-Chao Tsai ◽  
Routine R. T. Kuo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Exposure Therapy ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Subjective Distress ◽  
Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy ◽  
Experimental Process ◽  
Systemic Problems ◽  
Virtual Reality Exposure ◽  
And Control

Driving phobia is a widespread anxiety disorder in modern society. Driving phobia disorders often cause difficulties in people’s professional and social activities. A growing trend for treating driving phobia is to apply virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET). We refined the system’s performance based on the previous research publication and have conducted a VRET pre-test research study with treatment and control group subjects to demonstrate the effectiveness of VRET. Some systemic problems were discovered in the first published experiment. For example, the experimental process and the virtual reality (VR) driving scenarios had to be modified to reflect realistic scenarios causing the fear of driving. These issues were identified and improvements made and verified in this research. A total of 130 subjects completed the driving behavior survey. Thirty subjects were randomly drawn from the subjects with high driving fear questionnaire scores and were invited to participate in the treatment experiments. The latest research presents the refined VRET for driving phobia disorders, including the revised system framework, the main modules and integration, and the subjects’ biodata collection, management, and analysis. The experiment results provide strong evidence that the refined VRET design helps subjects overcome driving phobias. The subjects’ subjective distress and fear of driving are reduced significantly through the implementation of VRET.

Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy and Physiological Data Analysis for Treatment of Stress Disorders

2022 ◽  
pp. 143-170
Author(s):  
Charles V. Trappey ◽  
Amy J. C. Trappey ◽  
C. M. Chang ◽  
M. C. Tsai ◽  
Routine R. T. Kuo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Anxiety Disorders ◽  
Exposure Therapy ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Stress Disorders ◽  
Daily Activities ◽  
Physiological Data ◽  
Design Development ◽  
Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy ◽  
Virtual Reality Exposure

Anxiety disorders are diagnosed when people become overreactive, disassociated, and feel emotionally unable to control feelings to the extent that their daily lifes are affected. Driving phobia is one of the widespread anxiety disorders in modern society, which cause problematic disruptions of a patient's daily activities. Exposure therapy is an approach gaining popularity for treating patients with stress disorders. Virtual reality (VR) technology allows people to interact with objects and stimuli in an immersive way. The VR for phobic therapy using indirect exposure, which can be safely discontinued or lowed in terms of intensity, is the area of research with literature published and patents granted. This research focuses on reviewing virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET) literature and patents. The chapter also presents the research and development of a novel driving phobia VRET system with the detailed experiments to demonstrate the design, development, implementation, enhancement, and verification of VRET.

scholarly journals Effects of Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy on Dentophobia in Clients of Dental Offices in Isfahan, Tehran, and Shahrekord (Iran)

2021 ◽  
Vol In Press (In Press) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elham Majidi ◽  
Gholamreza Manshaee
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Exposure Therapy ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Statistical Population ◽  
Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy ◽  
Dental Offices ◽  
Virtual Reality Exposure ◽  
Experimental Group

Background: Dentophobia can reduce the number of regular visits to dentists and endanger the oral health of people. New technologies such as virtual reality (VR) can be used in the treatment of psychological problems such as dentophobia. Objectives: The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET) on dentophobia in clients of dental offices in the cities of Isfahan, Tehran, and Shahrekord in 2020. Methods: The research method was quasi-experimental with a pre-test, post-test, and follow-up design and a control group. The statistical population of this study consisted of all clients with dentophobia visiting private dental clinics of Isfahan, Tehran, and Shahrekord in 2020. Thirty clients with dentophobia who were willing to participate in the research were selected as the sample using convenience sampling and randomly divided into experimental and control groups (n = 15 per group). The experimental group underwent eight sessions (15-minutes sessions per week) of virtual reality exposure therapy, while the control group received no intervention. The follow-up was performed after 45 days. The research instruments included the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS), Samsung Gear 360 (2017 Edition), and HTC VIVE Pro Virtual Reality Headset. Data were analyzed using repeated-measures ANOVA. Results: The results showed that virtual reality exposure therapy effectively decreased dentophobia in clients of dental offices in the experimental group (P = 0.0001). Conclusions: According to research findings, virtual reality exposure therapy was an efficient therapy for improving dentophobia and reducing phobia symptoms in clients of dental offices.

scholarly journals Virtual Reality Self-help Treatment for Aviophobia: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial

10.2196/22008 ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. e22008
Author(s):  
Jamie Rhiannon Fehribach ◽  
Marieke Bianca Jolien Toffolo ◽  
Ilja Cornelisz ◽  
Chris van Klaveren ◽  
Annemieke van Straten ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Treatment Effect ◽  
Exposure Therapy ◽  
Anxiety Symptoms ◽  
Secondary Outcome ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Fear Of Flying ◽  
Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy ◽  
Self Help ◽  
Virtual Reality Exposure

Background Aviophobia (the fear of flying) can greatly impact the daily life functioning of people with the condition. Traditional exposure-based treatment is hampered by the limited availability of airplane practice situations, which is a result of economical and practical concerns. Easily accessible and low-cost virtual reality exposure therapy may address these challenges. Objective The purpose of our study is to investigate the effectiveness of ZeroPhobia: Aviophobia (a self-help mobile app–based treatment) in reducing flight anxiety symptoms and depressive and anxiety symptoms. We will also investigate the effects of usage intensity, the sense of immersion, inherent absorption ability, and perceived user-friendliness on the treatment effect. Methods Participants (N=114) who are aged 18-64 years and experience at least mild symptoms of aviophobia will be recruited from the general Dutch population and randomized into a treatment group or waitlist control group. By using their own phones and rudimentary mobile virtual reality headsets, participants will receive six modules of psychoeducation and cognitive behavioral therapy, which will include six levels of virtual reality exposure therapy over a period of 6 weeks. Assessments will be conducted at baseline, posttest (ie, after 6 weeks), and 3- and 12-month follow-ups. The primary outcome measure of our study is the Flight Anxiety Situations Questionnaire. The secondary outcome measures include anxiety and depression measures and additional covariates (including usage intensity, the degree of immersion, etc). We will test treatment effectiveness by conducting an intention-to-treat analysis and estimating average treatment effects on the treated. The mechanisms of treatment effect will also be explored. Results The study was funded on September 25, 2018. Ethical approval was received on October 11, 2019. Recruitment closed on May 7, 2020. Conclusions Our study will further the scientific understanding and clinical implications of technology’s current ability to aid in providing effective, accessible treatment for the fear of flying. Trial Registration Netherlands Trial Registry NL70238.029.19; https://www.trialregister.nl/trial/8257. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) DERR1-10.2196/22008

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