Avaroterapiya - a promising method of treating schizophrenia
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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Treatment of auditory hallucinations in schizophrenic patients became possible thanks to computer avatars. The successful implementation of the newest, effective technique belongs to researchers at University College London.
With the help of avatars, scientists were able to completely subordinate the most common phenomenon in schizophrenia - voice hallucinations. The study was subjected to sixteen patients with whom they worked daily for half an hour. After a therapeutic course of seven sessions, improvements were noted in all subjects. "Voices" left three subjects for good, the rest - auditory hallucinations weakened, their appearances became rare, as a result, the painful impact on consciousness also decreased. And the patients suffered from the disease for a different period (from 3 to 16 years).
The essence of therapy consists in individual selection for each patient of the face and voice of the avatar from the position of maximum trust. Computer technologies synchronize the mimicry of the lips with speech, which allows the doctor to contact the patient through the image, helping to resist the "voices" and control the painful manifestations.
Patients accept the virtual identity for the present. The fact that they themselves chose her appearance and speech, gives patients a feeling of confidence, full of confidence, the possibility of complete control and security. As a rule, "voices" in the head cause the schizophrenic fear, because they arise spontaneously and try, as the patient believes, to harm him and his loved ones. Avatar - is an effective way to reject someone else's, hostile will and completely free from the harmful effects.
Sessions of avatarotherapy are recorded and, if necessary, provided to the patient. Such a reminder allows to achieve a trusting attitude to medical recommendations in cases of resumption of voice hallucinations. Fear in this case is projected onto an already familiar and kind avatar, which completely eliminates the problem.
The newest discovery interested many doctors. After all, until now, getting rid of auditory hallucinations with the most effective antipsychotic substances has not produced lasting results. It should be noted that drug treatment does not fully cope with the problem of "votes". The combination of pharmacological achievements and cognitive-behavioral techniques brought success in one case out of ten. Yes, and drugs have a lot of side effects that undermine physical health.
At the moment, the authors of the new treatment technology are preparing a global clinical trial. The experiment will be conducted in a number of psychiatric clinics, where specially trained personnel will test avaroterapiyu on a hundred randomly selected patients. Summing up is planned for 2015.
These studies are highly trusted by treating physicians, because there is still no effective remedy for schizophrenia, to which one person out of a hundred is susceptible. I would like to note that the disease is one of the most common causes of disability (causing paralysis, blindness, paraplegia, dementia).
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