Research on Psychological Treatment of Depression Based on Virtual Reality Technology

Depression is one of the most diagnosed mental illnesses in modern society, with leading causes such as psycho-trauma concerning interpersonal relationships, primarily relationships and familial dynamics, and both physical and psychological disturbances resulting from protracted exposure to stressors. Former research explicitly proved that virtual reality technology is likely to succeed as a major treatment medium for psychological disorders, primarily due to the fact that it is immensely immersive, interactive, and private. However, very little research is available in the literature regarding the treatment through VR, and exposure-based therapies of real-life landscapes. This paper presents an effort in an such direction: using VR technology for the treatment of depression via virtual rehab landscapes and VR exposure desensitization training to reduce emotional stress and enhance the treatment effect. It found that the viewing of virtual natural scenes resulted in significantly improved moods of the subjects and reduced their stress, with increased interactivity being more effective. One study observed elevation among the patients, where the degree of anxiety also decreases gradually eventually leading to better tolerance of treatment and treatment effectiveness. All these findings confirm the claim that such virtual natural environments and exposure desensitization trainings would be effective for depression treatment because they allow for a new pathway of non-pharmacological interventions.