Virtual Reality Could Change How Anxiety Is Treated In Older People

Could virtual reality be an effective treatment for older individuals dealing with anxiety?

Statistics show that about 25 percent of people aged 65 and older deal with heightened levels of anxiety.

Researchers at the Universite de Montreal believe that a novel therapeutic approach could be promising for fixing some of the issues.

One examined technique involved getting the participants to confront their anxiety by exposing them to mental images, objects or situations that trigger fear and continuing the process until the reaction decreases.

"As people age, their ability to create mental images and their abstraction skills get weaker. For seniors, imagining intangible or abstract situations therefore becomes more and more difficult," said Sébastien Grenier, PhD, a researcher at the Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal (IUGM) and a research professor at Université de Montréal, in a news release. "Virtual reality exposes people to the source of their anxiety without having to physically go somewhere else or imagine their fear. This could be an additional treatment tool for therapists."

The novel approach holds promise because it's non-pharmacological and free of significant side effects, according to health officials. 

As of now, researchers are conducting a number of pilot studies to determine the feasibility of the approach. However, a number of trials must be conducted before the research can be used in a clinical setting.

More information regarding the findings can be seen via International Psychogeriatrics.

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