The first medical publication on PubMed that used virtual reality was for phobias and this is the episode on that topic. I had a great conversation with a VR expert that has been treating patients with phobias using virtual reality for 20 years, Les Posen. I then talk about the current evidence for this type of VR therapy and some of the different ways it can be delivered.
Outline
Define a phobia
Categories of phobic disorders: Agoraphobia, Specific Phobias, Social Anxiety Disorder
1st line treatment: Exposure therapy via patient's imagination, real exposure (in vivo), virtual reality
Other diseases that are treated with exposure therapy
Conversation with Les Posen
Past: Why Phobias were one of the first uses of the technology?
Present: How does virtual reality stack up against in vivo exposure?
Future: How can therapists do virtual reality therapy remotely and how can patients self administer therapy when needed?
Links (use google podcast or anchor to click through these links)
Presence as the Defining Factor in a VR Application
Virtual reality graded exposure in the treatment of acrophobia: A case report
Review papers (the last one of the 4 was the one I talked about in the episode)
Recent Progress in Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy for Phobias: A Systematic Review
Implementations of Virtual Reality for Anxiety-Related Disorders: Systematic Review
Here are the automated studies I talked about (plus I found a third one after I made the episode) ->
This last that I didnt talk about in the podcast episode is awesome! They actually tested the participants with a real tower for their fear of heights.