@inproceedings{9a78de541c4f46bea3ccda3774697244,
title = "Virtual Reality Applications for the Treatment of Anxiety and Mental Disorders",
abstract = "Virtual Reality (VR) environments are computer-generated mediums that try to provide the user a sense of presence. The use of VR term in science has a long history, but an increasing number of commercial cost-effective VR devices are creating new possibilities and applications for it. Regardless of entertainment, as the most widespread market for VR, the application of VR in medicine is attracting great attention in the scientific field. VR can be used as a tool for public healthcare, as a teaching environment for medical students or to improve the skills of experts, together with a well-accepted method for physical rehabilitation and mental therapies. The focus of this review paper is on the use of VR for psychiatric and anxiety disorders. Several empirical studies show the effectiveness of VR in improving the conditions of patients in a manner comparable to traditional methods and with long-lasting effects in their daily lives. However, a small number of case studies or the lack of a detailed comparison between VR and conventional methods is the shortcoming of current studies. In this paper, we review different VR applications focusing on the identification of the technologies used, the evaluation methods applied, and the results of the studies",
keywords = "anxiety disorder, medical applications, virtual reality, VRET",
author = "Saeed Safikhani and Johanna Pirker and Wriessnegger, {Selina Christin}",
year = "2021",
month = may,
day = "17",
doi = "10.23919/iLRN52045.2021.9459356",
language = "English",
series = "Proceedings of 2021 7th International Conference of the Immersive Learning Research Network, iLRN 2021",
publisher = "IEEE",
editor = "Daphne Economou and Anasol Pena-Rios and Andreas Dengel and Heather Dodds and Markos Mentzelopoulos and Alexander Klippel and Kai Erenli and Lee, {Mark J. W.} and Jonathon Richter",
booktitle = "Proceedings of 2021 7th International Conference of the Immersive Learning Research Network, iLRN 2021",
address = "United States",
note = "7th International Conference of the Immersive Learning Research Network : iLRN 2021, iLRN 2021 ; Conference date: 17-05-2021 Through 10-06-2021",
}