Mitigating negative emotions through virtual reality and embodiment

Abstract

Oncological treatments are responsible for many of the physical changes (aesthetic and functional) associated with cancer. Because of this, cancer patients are at high risk of developing mental health problems. The aim of this study is to propose an innovative Virtual Reality (VR) training that uses a somatic technique (i.e., embodiment) to create a bridge with the bodily dimension of cancer. After undergoing a psycho-educational procedure, a combination of exposure, out-of-body experience, and body swapping will gradually train the patient to cope with cancer-related difficulties, increasing stress tolerance, and patient empowerment. The most engaging step of this advanced form of Stress Inoculation Training is the body swapping experience, which will guide the patient in embodying a resilient cancer patient who is facing similar difficulties. Through the VR ability to simulate the human brain functioning, and the potential of embodiment to hook to the somatic dimension of illness, we expect that once the concepts endured through the patient’s experience of resilience are triggered, the patient will be more prone to implement functional coping strategies in real life, reaching empowerment and adjusting to the post-treatment difficulties. When the scenarios are built and the training tested, our intervention could be used to support patients with different oncological diseases and who are treated in different cancer hospitals, as well as patients with other non-oncological problems (e.g., social anxiety). Future research should focus on using our paradigm for other clinical populations, and supporting cancer patients in coping with different distressing situations.

Unlocking the potential of virtual reality to expand treatment frontiers for bulimia nervosa: a pilot study to explore the impact of virtual reality-enhanced cognitive-behavioral therapy

“…To answer this problem, over the past decades, researchers have begun to use Virtual Reality (VR). This technology has been crucial in improving the well-being of individuals with medical conditions (e.g., Sansoni et al 2022aSansoni et al , b, 2023Sansoni and Riva 2022) and has also facilitated the integration and expansion of assessment and treatment procedures for many psychological disorders (e.g., Riva et al 2021aRiva et al , b, 2023Brizzi et al 2023a, b;Chorzępa et al 2023;Vila et al 2023), including EDs. The efficacy of VR in treating such clinical conditions stems from its capacity to involve various sensory modalities (such as visual and tactile) and manipulate spatial frames of reference (i.e., allocentric and egocentric) during task presentations.…”

From Virtual Reality to Regenerative Virtual Therapy: Some Insights from a Systematic Review Exploring Inner Body Perception in Anorexia and Bulimia Nervosa

“…VR represents indeed an advanced imaginal system, able to generate emotions as if people were undergoing the same situations in real life [ 5 , 6 ]. Thanks to VR, clinicians may provide controlled exposure therapy (i.e., VR exposure) to their patients [ 7 , 8 , 9 ], offering a safe space in which to undergo experiences [ 10 ] or stimuli that are critical for the improvement of patients’ clinical conditions [ 8 , 9 , 11 , 12 , 13 ]. This characteristic enables patients to feel present in the virtual environment as if coping with the stimuli in real life [ 14 ], demonstrating to be particularly effective for exposure treatments [ 2 ].…”