The Use of Virtual Reality in Psychiatry
A special issue of Brain Sciences (ISSN 2076-3425). This special issue belongs to the section "Neuropsychiatry".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (6 November 2023) | Viewed by 932
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Diagnosis and assessment of mental health disorders mainly rely on self-reported questionnaires, clinical interviews, and neurophysiological tests, which though constitute the basis for individual psychiatric treatment, strongly depend on the patients’ current mental state, memory, and cognitive burden, and are often scrutinized for lack of ecological validity. Furthermore, the social stigma associated with medication-assisted psychiatric treatment can intensify patients’ psychological charges in addition to the burden of the medication itself.
Over the past years, novel technologies such as immersive virtual reality (VR) have been regarded as a promising tool in the diagnosis, assessment, and treatment of psychiatric disorders, including but not limited to anxiety discords, PTSD, psychosis, addiction, and eating disorders, surpassing previous limitations such as time and cost constraints, inconvenience, and potential danger to the patient. Moreover, therapeutic scenarios can be tailored to the individuals’ needs, allowing for consistent, systematic training, while biofeedback and other data acquisition (e.g., head and body (part) movement) can be made fast and easy and provide more objective evidence of the patient's state and treatment necessities.
Though research on VR applications for mental healthcare has been rapidly increasing in recent years thanks to technological advancements and reduced costs, the benefits of VR-assisted assessment as an addition to current psychiatric diagnostic processes are still to be fully understood. Additionally, as a newly introduced tool to the medical field, the gap from research to clinical practice is considerable and the challenges that need to be addressed for it to become a well-established technology in the field are substantial.
The aim of the Special Issue is to provide the opportunity to researchers to submit their interdisciplinary immersive technology (VR/AR) contributions, leading to stronger theoretical, empirical, and methodological understanding of the use of these technologies in promoting mental health.
We welcome submissions of original research and reviews that include, but are not limited to, the following areas:
- Case studies on the use of immersive technologies for mental health well-being both in patients and the general population.
- Design and evaluation of immersive technologies or applications for the prevention, diagnosis, and/or treatment of mental health disorders in patients.
- Design and evaluation of immersive technologies as tools for healthcare providers in the support, diagnosis and/or treatment of mental health disorders.
- Potential socio-cultural and economic impact, and other challenges of immersive technologies for mental health support.
- Diversity, inclusion, and ethical/cultural issues in mental healthcare using immersive technologies.
- Other topics related to the use of immersive technologies in psychiatric diseases.
Dr. Domna Banakou
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- virtual reality
- mental health disorders
- psychiatry
- immersive technologies
- psychiatric assessment
- mental health diagnosis
- psychiatric treatment
- healthcare challenges
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