Can Virtual Reality Help Paranoia?

Virtual reality can help people with severe paranoia, a recent study has claimed.

18:18 09 May 2016

Oxford University researchers have found that virtual reality (VR) can be used to treat people suffering from severe paranoia.

 

In the study, paranoia sufferers were virtually placed in environments they found to be most stressful like cramped lifts or crowded trains. By experiencing the places in a controlled setting, the patients were able to practice how to deal with them. At the end of the tests, many of the participants reported a marked decrease in their paranoia.

 

Professor Daniel Freeman, from Oxford's Department of Psychiatry, said in a statement: "Paranoia all too often leads to isolation, unhappiness and profound distress. But the exceptionally positive immediate results for the patients in this study showed a new route forward in treatment."

 

"As they relearned that being around other people was safe we saw their paranoia begin to melt away. They were then able to go into real social situations and cope far better."

 

"This has the potential to be transformative."