This article while having not undergone a scientific research is targeted at providing the relevance of tech in promoting mental health amongst individuals of different age, sex and even race.
NOTE: While this may seem to prove that there is confirmation of this article being biased towards a class of the population, it would prove to be a fun read and may even be a major break-through for researchers in both the tech and mental health field to be able to carry out further research.
Let's ride!!!!!
Introduction
So many people may have watched the popular American science fiction action film Ready Player One, which was released March 2018, based on Ernest Cline's novel of the same name.
Directed by Steven Spielberg from a screenplay by Zak Penn and Cline, it stars Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, Lena Waithe, T.J. Miller, Simon Pegg and Mark Rylance.
The film is set in 2045, where much of humanity uses the OASIS, a virtual reality simulation, to escape the real world. The orphaned Wade Watts finds clues to a contest that promises the ownership of the OASIS to the winner, and he and his allies try to complete it before an evil corporation can do so.
Now you're probably wondering where I'm going with all this information and how relevant is it. It gets more interesting.
So let's start by learning all about Virtual Reality and Mental Health. However, to aid easy understanding, I'd like to focus more on psychiatric individuals (this doesn't out rightly mean patients in a psychiatric facility but individuals whom may need the expertise of experts who work in psychiatry).
What is Virtual Reality???
The term "virtual reality" is credited to Jaron Lanier, who was the founder of VPL Research in 1984, a company that develops and sells virtual reality products. The term "virtual reality," was first used in the mid-1980s when Jaron Lanier, founder of VPL Research, began to develop the gear, including goggles and gloves, needed to experience what he called "virtual reality."
Virtual Reality (VR) is an advanced, human-computer interface that simulates a realistic environment. The participants can move around in the virtual world. They can see it from different angles, reach into it, grab it and reshape it. There is no little screen of symbols for neither manipulation nor commands to be entered to get the computer to do something.
Cyberspace is thought of as the ultimate virtual reality environment. It is an alternative computer universe where data exists like cities of light. Information workers use a special virtual reality system to enter cyberspace and to travel its data highways. This gives them the experience of being physically free to go anywhere.
Virtual Reality involves electronic and mechanical engineering, cybernetics, database design, real-time and distributed systems, simulation, computer graphics, human engineering, stereoscope, human anatomy and, even, artificial life. The many challenges for creating virtual reality systems include: software, hardware, human factors and VR over high-speed networks.
What is Mental Health??
Mental health refers to cognitive, behavioral, and emotional well-being. It is all about how people think, feel, and behave. "Mental health is a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realize their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community."
People sometimes use the term "mental health" to mean the absence of a mental disorder.
Having discussed these two concepts as much as I can to facilitate basic understanding, I would like to focus more on certain aspects such as how a full immersive virtual reality may help to prompt individuals with social phobia to overcome their ineptness in a more subtle, controlled and relaxing manner.
A Fully Immersive virtual reality ensures a realistic virtual experience. It would feel as if you are physically present in the virtual world and the events occurring there are happening to you.
Special equipment like VR glasses, gloves, body detectors equipped with sense detectors is required to provide a realistic virtual experience. The data from these sensors is used by the computer and the virtual world responds to that in real-time to provide users with a realistic virtual experience.
An example of this would be a Virtual Gaming Zone, where using special gear you and other players can interact with the virtual environment, all at the same time, and play with or against each other.
At the mention of virtual reality, the VR glasses in an arcade is the most likely to pop into your mind because that's the place where most people have likely experienced the virtual world but we can see from the American science fiction action film Ready Player One by Steven Spielberg and Cline that more can be done in the virtual world.
A fully immersive virtual reality like the one adapted in the movie allows its users to customize not only their names but also allows them to decide how they appear in the virtual world. More so, it allows you to meet, interact and reach out to other people all the while not altering normal functioning but rather allowing its users to choose their environment and explore it like they normally would in reality.
It's normal to feel nervous in some social situations. For example, going on a date or giving a presentation may cause that feeling of butterflies in your stomach. But in social anxiety disorder, also called social phobia, everyday interactions cause significant anxiety, self-consciousness and embarrassment because you fear being scrutinized or judged negatively by others.
In social anxiety disorder, fear and anxiety lead to avoidance that can disrupt your life. Severe stress can affect your relationships, daily routines, work, school or other activities.
Social anxiety disorder can be a chronic mental health condition, but learning coping skills in psychotherapy and taking medications can help you gain confidence and improve your ability to interact with others.
Anyone could be anxious socially which is perfectly fine but it also means people with social phobia have little to no interaction or relationships. Helping someone with a social phobia can most often prove to be difficult thing to do as cases have their own level of extremity.
Then the question that would most likely be asked is how do we get individuals with social anxiety disorder to come out of their own shell and begin to open themselves up to others around them without being forced and in an environment where they can easily engage a "flight response" when they feel overwhelmed?
This is a question that I believe the introduction of virtual reality may seek to proffer solution to, in that;
They have the liberty to choose a unique name and identity for themselves and still be able to maintain their animosity in the virtual environment. For example, people who feel uncomfortable with their self-image can modify their physique, voice, skin color to what they want other people to perceive them as.
They can select the scenery and elements that they want contained in the virtual environment, i.e., they are able to select where they want to visit. For example, someone who is scared of animals would be able to avoid places in the virtual environment that supports animals.
They can choose the time that's most convenient for them to enter the virtual environment, decide when to leave and whether to interact with others or just explore.
The virtual environment also allows them to be able to control the presence of others in their space. They can choose to invite and reach out to any character of their choice while exerting control.
The virtual environment also can allow people with social phobia to seek the professional help they need i.e. they can schedule their therapy sessions to take place in the virtual space and still be able to maintain animosity.
Limitations of Virtual Reality
Virtual Reality (VR) is starting to be used in psychological therapy around the world. However, a thorough understanding of the reason why VR is effective and what effect it has on the human psyche is still missing.
Also, the cost of acquiring a virtual reality gear is relatively high. Certain parts of the world with unstable network connection and inconsistent power supply would heavily affect the methods described in the article.
In conclusion you would agree with me that this has proved to be somewhat good read and that tech is very useful in enhancing and supporting all existing fields.
This article is open to constructive criticism and further suggestions and improvements would be greatly appreciated. While there are limited materials that supports my claim, the idea is that as times continue to change, the tech space would be able to develop methods to help mental health practitioners reach their audience, help people find it less difficult to open up about their mental health issues and seek the professional help they need while being able to control when, how they get help and whom they seek help from.
Supporting Links to Learn and find out more
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ready_Player_One_(film)
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/social-anxiety-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20353561
In case you have not seen the movie and you are interested in watching it
References
J. M. Zheng, K. W. Chan and I. Gibson, \"Virtual reality,\" in IEEE Potentials, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 20-23, April-May 1998, doi: 10.1109/45.666641.