Reducing Anxiety Using Self-Help Virtual Reality Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.

Virtual reality (VR) software has been used successfully for the treatment of various phobias and anxieties. The delivery of this software is often performed using expensive head-mounted VR displays with a therapist present to manipulate the VR scenario. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of self-help VR software delivered using red/blue anaglyph glasses, for the treatment of spider phobia. Participants used the software on their own without having a researcher or therapist present. The software provided instruction on the use of progressive muscle relaxation in conjunction with VR exposure therapy. Exposure therapy is the gold standard treatment for anxiety and phobia. For VR exposure therapy to be effective, the environment must produce a real fear response. Participants' physiological responses indicate that the VR software successfully produced a fear response. Self-report questionnaires indicated that the participants' level of fear for spiders decreased after taking part in four sessions.