MIND GAMES

Virtual reality is being used to treat a wide range of mental health problems. Meet some of the scientists who are pioneering VR therapy and the people who are benefitting from it

- DR LUCY MADDOX

Do you ever have days when you can’t seem to do anything right? Days when you’re fed up with yourself? Days when you berate yourself for things you’ve said or done with the sort of angry monologue that you wouldn’t subject a friend to? From time to time, we all do. But while it’s common to sometimes struggle to be kind to ourselves, for some people, especially those with depression, relentlessly picking at their own worst traits can become an endless cycle of self-bullying.

Therapy seeks to break that cycle through various approaches and one of the newest involves virtual reality (VR). At University College London, Prof John King and Dr Emma Jayne Kilford are working on a VR intervention to use as an adjunct to face-to-face therapy for depression. They hope the new therapeutic angle VR provides can help people increase their ability for self-compassion.