Inside STAT: Can VR treat mental health conditions?

(DOM SMITH/STAT)

Mental health care often focuses on alleviating negative feelings. But new research run out of UCLA is trying to bolster patients’ positive feelings with the help of some cutting-edge technology: virtual reality. Participants in the research are put into pleasant scenarios — a dive into a coral reef, a stroll through the woods — and coached to pay attention to what’s so nice about it. The project hopes to train participants to find joy in activities they can plan for themselves as a way of reducing anhedonia, the lack of interest or ability to feel pleasure that marks depression and other mental health conditions. The project also reflects how mental health researchers are increasingly turning to VR as a treatment tool. STAT’s Megan Thielking has the story.