Virtual Reality Therapy Helps in Alcohol Cravings: Study Virtual reality treatment is usually recommended to people suffering from post-traumatic stress

disorder (PTSD) and phobias. The therapy has found several high priests who believe it to be a

successful procedure in addressing issues like PTSD. However, a new study also suggests that this

therapy can actually also help people with alcohol dependence.

According to researchers from the Chung-Ang University Hospital in Seoul, South Korea, this

method can significantly reduce cravings in a person. They observed that alcoholics, following

detox and virtual reality, had experienced a reduction in their cravings for a drink.

How the therapy works

The treatment is a

form of exposure

therapy which is

mainly used in

patients with anxiety

disorder. A situation is

created virtually for

the patient and is

taught how to deal

with it.

A virtual situation is

developed in a safe

and controlled

environment for the

participants, where

situations of fear and

anxiety are created

and they learn how to respond to the stimuli. Following repeated interventions, this eventually

helps the patients in managing real life situations and they become capable of perfectly dealing

with anxiety producing conditions in their lives.

Applying virtual reality therapy to address alcoholism

The researchers from Seoul had thought of applying the same principle in addressing alcoholics

and how it can be utilized to help them. Dr. Doug Hyun Han, senior researcher of the study, and

his colleagues, recruited 12 patients to participate in this virtual reality therapy for alcoholics.

The recruits were already undergoing treatment for alcohol dependence.

The participants were made to undergo a series of scans so that their brain metabolism could be

studied. They were then compared to a group of healthy volunteers to study the difference. To

the surprise of the researchers, the alcohol-dependent participants demonstrated faster

metabolism in their brains' limbic circuit. This clearly indicates a heightened sensitivity to stimuli,

including alcohol, says Dr. Han.

After completing a week-long detox program, the 12 participating alcoholics underwent 10

virtual reality sessions for the next five weeks. There were two sessions in a week which included

three different virtual scenes, a relaxed environment, and a high-risk situation, which depicted a

restaurant scene with people all around drinking and enjoying, which is considered an adverse

scenario. In the third and all important scenario the participants were surrounded by sights,

sounds and the pungent smell of people who were falling sick due to excessive drinking.

The outcome

After the participants completed five weeks of virtual reality sessions, they were again subjected

to brain scans that produced some amazing results that really took the researchers by surprise.

They found that the earlier speedy brain metabolism of the patients had now slowed down

considerably. This clearly shows that their craving for alcohol had dampened to a great extent,

according to Dr. Han.

He said that this technology is already immensely popular in the field of psychiatry and

psychology. However, Dr. Han said that a more comprehensive approach and further studies are

required to vindicate these claims. Programs like these can go a long way in preventing relapses

and help patients in abstaining. Since this technology places people with alcohol troubles in a

real-life situation and requiring active participation from them, it becomes more effective for

them.

Further experimentation with virtual reality therapy is needed to arrive at more conclusive

findings and help alcoholics with cravings and preventing relapses.

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