Virtual Reality and Psychedelics for the Treatment of Psychiatric Disease: A Systematic Literature Review
This review (2020) explores the medical applications of Virtual Reality (VR). VR showed security and significant efficacy in the management of disorders like PTSD, gambling disorder and preoperative anxiety, while psychedelics showed positive effects on depressive and anxiety disorders, alcohol use disorder and PTSD. Whether VR and psychedelic therapy could be used simultaneously remains to be seen.
Authors
- Ortiz, M. I.
- Gómez-Busto, F. J.
Published
Abstract
Objective
Hallucinogenic substances or psychedelic drugs have been historically used by humans worldwide for centuries, and interest grows around them because of the therapeutic potential that they pose for mental disease. Virtual Reality (VR), has been highly developed and improved in the last decade, and it is also gaining importance due to their potential as therapeutic tools. In this article, the most recent and relevant information regarding the medical applications of both VR and psychedelics was highlighted, and diverse potential therapeutic uses were explored in hope to set the ground for further research on this topic.
Method
A systematic literature review using the PRISMA methods was conducted in PubMed, Medline, Embase, Cochrane Library, Scopus and Web of Science, including only peer-reviewed clinical trials or case studies written in English, that address the use of psychedelics and/or VR for the treatment of psychiatric disorders and that measure the success of the therapies. A final selection of 23 manuscripts were used in this systematic review.
Results
VR showed security and significant efficacy in the management of special cases of phobias (social, motion pain and spiders), eating disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), gambling disorder, preoperative anxiety and schizophrenia.
Conclusions
The hallucinogenic drugs evaluated exhibited positive effects in treatment of depressive and anxiety disorders, alcohol dependence and PTSD. More research is needed in order to test the effectiveness of these therapies (alone or together) in different mental illnesses and different populations.
Research Summary of 'Virtual Reality and Psychedelics for the Treatment of Psychiatric Disease: A Systematic Literature Review'
Introduction
Psychedelic (hallucinogenic) substances and virtual reality (VR) are presented as two distinct but potentially complementary approaches with therapeutic promise in psychiatry. The introduction situates psychedelics historically and notes renewed interest in their capacity to catalyse psychotherapeutic change, shorten therapy duration, and treat conditions such as depression, anxiety and addiction. VR is described as a matured technology with expanding clinical applications, from exposure therapies for anxiety to rehabilitation after stroke; some investigators have explored its ability to mimic aspects of the mystical or transcendental experiences associated with psychedelics. Ortiz and colleagues set out to synthesise recent clinical evidence on the medical applications of both VR and psychedelics for psychiatric disorders. The review aimed to identify peer‑reviewed clinical trials and case studies that objectively measured therapeutic success, to describe the disorders and interventions studied, and to highlight gaps — notably the scarcity of research combining VR and psychedelic‑assisted therapy — to inform future research directions.
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Study Details
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- APA Citation
(2020). Virtual Reality and Psychedelics for the Treatment of Psychiatric Disease: A Systematic Literature Review. Clinical Neuropsychiatry. https://doi.org/10.36131/cnfioritieditore20200606
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Kaup, K. K., Vasser, M., Tulver, K. et al. · Frontiers in Psychiatry (2023)
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