The treatment of flying phobia by means of Virtual Reality

This is how Virtual Reality is used to offer psychotherapy against aerophobia.

The phobia of flying or aerophobia belongs to the category of specific situational phobia.which in its different degrees afflicts approximately a quarter of the population, where 10% meet the criteria to be diagnosed as specific phobia.

In this article we will see which are the possible therapeutic proposals that can be used to treat this disorder, and we will focus on one of them that is particularly stigmatic: the treatment of aerophobia using Virtual Reality..

What is aerophobia or flying phobia?

The aerophobia is a psychological disorder for which situations that are interpreted as being linked to the experience of flying in an airplane produce symptoms of extreme anxiety, such as sweating, trembling, dizziness or panic attacks.such as sweating, trembling, dizziness or panic attacks. As a consequence, every effort is made to avoid these situations, even if one is aware that there is a real or significant danger when taking an airplane.

Beyond beliefs, flight phobia is not an individualized fear, but is a reflection of different underlying components. It can be caused either by direct aversive experiences, by vicarious learning (having seen others do things or experience certain events) or by transmission of information (myths about the danger of airplanes, etc.).

Aerophobia is mainly composed of very specific concernsHowever, we also find other apprehensions that reflect the heterogeneity of the different manifestations of the disorder, and that may derive from other phobias. For example, fear of enclosed spaces, fear of losing control of the situation, fear of heights, phobia of experiencing undesirable physical sensations or fear of instability.

Cognitive techniques for overcoming phobias

The psychological treatment techniques and procedures used in the therapeutic approach to aerophobia are very different from each other. The most commonly used treatment, in any case, is that of multicomponent programs.. With different individual particularities, most of them are composed of the following elements.

Aeronautical information about the anxiety responses.

This helps to contextualize the experience and to reject certain myths about the danger of flying.

Activation control strategies

For example, controlled breathing, Muscle relaxation and applied relaxation.

Cognitive strategies

For example, self-instructions, rational emotive therapy, detection of phobic cognitions and generation of alternative thoughts. They are suitable for the control of dysfunctional thoughts..

Live Exposure

It is performed as part of the treatment itself or as a flight schedule at the end of the training.

Virtual Reality in the treatment of flying phobia

The immanent difficulties to carry out Live Exposure in the specific case of the fear of flying, are due to economic inconveniences as well as to the impracticality of the treatment. This has led to the development of other favorable procedures for the confrontation of the feared stimuli, such as the case of computer-generated treatments and, in particular, Virtual Reality..

Virtual Reality exposure has the same efficacy as live exposure, with the improvement that it it works by avoiding all those inconveniences that we would have with the live treatment previously mentioned.

But... what exactly is Virtual Reality? It is an application that includes a series of computer-generated computer-generated environments through 3D graphics or 360º filming, totally immersive and interactive with the patient. and interactive with the patient. This method is safe, non-invasive and creates a sense of situational presence. On the other hand, the technology used has more than 20 years of scientific studies behind it, starting from the fact that the first article on Virtual Reality in the field of clinical psychology was written in 1985.

When we talk about virtual reality in the health field, we have as a reference the Psious platform, which is designed by and for psychologists.. This company works with equipment consisting of specific glasses for Virtual Reality, a smart phone, a computer with which the therapist configures the variables, and a biofeedback sensor to control the patient's physiological response.

The Virtual Reality on which Psious is based allows for increased immersion, engagement and patient satisfaction, as well as faster therapy.and offers a faster and more effective therapy. It is a tool that not only intervenes in cases of aerophobia, but can also be used to treat other phobias and anxiety-related disorders such as PTSD, OCD, ADHD, anxiety attacks or eating disorders.