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Virtual reality will help to get rid of phobias
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
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Virtual reality (VR) means not only entertainment and computer games, now VR is used in various fields of activity. Recently, such technologies are increasingly used in medicine and recently researchers have found that such applications can help in the treatment of various phobias. In computer games, VR is used to scare players, this property, according to scientists, will help a person get rid of their fears.
Nick Shuzman suggests using virtual simulators in this way – the idea came to him thanks to his dog, who was afraid to be left without his owner. To treat such psychological problems, it is recommended to gradually open yourself up to the problem, and the technique works with both people and dogs.
In other words, you need to get closer to your fear - a high cliff if you are afraid of heights, spiders, rodents, etc. Not everyone decides to face their own fear, and it is also not always possible to find the cause of fear in the city - for example, snakes, large spiders, rats, etc. It was then that Shuzman thought that it is difficult to make virtual applications for dogs, but in the case of a person it can work. In addition, he himself also suffers from a phobia - he is afraid of spiders.
Nick Shuzman has already developed several VR applications, so he immediately decided to create a program for treating phobias, and he also decided to become a test subject and test the development on himself. The result was impressive - the new application helps to get rid of the fear of spiders. Shuzman called the program Fearless, at the beginning a person gets into a virtual room where there is a funny cartoon spider, but with each new level the spider becomes more and more realistic and in the last room a large spider descends right on you. Nick himself noted that the last level was very difficult for him, he could not overcome his fear of spiders and turned off the application all the time.
The developer himself noted that the maximum realism at the last level and the fear of the virtual spider is a good sign, i.e. Nick's psyche perceived the insect as real, and therefore such a technique is suitable for treating fears.
This type of treatment, where a person gradually gets used to their fear by experiencing it again and again, is called exposure therapy.
Barbara Rothbaum confirmed that VR is a significant help in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. She has been studying how virtual simulations affect phobias for 20 years and, as studies have shown, such methods work well for fear of flying, public speaking and, in fact, for fear of spiders. Rothbaum herself is sure that many applications similar to Fearless will appear soon, since the time of virtual reality has already come.
Nick Shuzman himself reported that he successfully completed the virtual reality treatment course and overcame his long-standing fear of insects. To prove his point, he picked up a huge spider and had a photo shoot with it. Crowdfunding platforms helped Shuzman raise $600,000, which will go toward adding special training to Fearless to combat other common phobias – reptiles, rodents, fear of heights or flying, etc.
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