Summary The study compared two groups of similar people with psychotic disorder.
(Online) - A new study has discovered that adding virtual reality cognitive behavioral therapy to the standard treatment for psychotic disorders is safe and can reduce paranoia and anxiety.
In a paper published in The Lancet Psychiatry, the researchers state that to their knowledge, theirs is the first randomized controlled trial of virtual reality (VR)-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) that has attempted to improve social functioning and decrease paranoid thoughts in people with psychotic disorders.
"The addition," explains lead author Roos M. C. A. Pot-Kolder, from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in the Netherlands, "of virtual reality CBT to standard treatment reduced paranoid feelings, anxiety, and use of safety behaviors in social situations, compared with standard treatment alone."
The study compared two groups of similar people with psychotic disorder: one (the intervention group) received the usual treatment plus VR CBT, and the other (the "waiting list control group") continued to receive the usual treatment.
The usual treatment consisted of taking antipsychotic medication, having regular contact with a psychiatrist, and receiving support from a psychiatric nurse to improve functioning in social and community settings, daily activities, and self-care.
Although the study’s results are promising, its scope did not include looking at the long-term effects of VR CBT and more research is needed before the treatment could be considered for widespread clinical use.
The researchers also urge that further studies should now compare the "treatment effects and cost-effectiveness" of VR CBT with those of standard CBT, as their study could not rule out that the beneficial effects might have come from just having an additional treatment.
Alternative thoughts and behaviors
CBT is a widely studied and commonly used psychotherapy type that combines cognitive therapy and behavioral therapy. Its methods vary according to the illness or problem being treated.
The underlying principle of CBT is the same as that of all psychotherapies — that is, that feelings, thoughts, and behaviors are interlinked and influence well-being.
The main difference between CBT and traditional forms of psychotherapy, such as psychoanalysis, is that CBT focuses primarily on current problems and how to solve them and less on trying to understand the past.
