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[Treatment of acrophobia in a virtual environment]
M F Kuntze1, R Störmer, R Mager
1Center of Applied Technologies in Mental Health (COAT-Basel), Psychiatrische Universitätsklinik Basel, Wilhelm Klein-Strasse 27, CH-4025 Basel.
Abstract:
Specific phobias are one of the most frequent mental health problems and can lead to years of personal suffering. The most effective treatment is exposure therapy. Our aim was to proof the feasibility and efficacy of virtual environments in treating acrophobia patients using a manually guided exposure therapy. Our pilot study was designed as a crossover intervention with a waiting list condition as a control group. After treatment, our results show that exposure in virtual environments is a feasible technique, can provoke anxiety, and leads to a therapeutic effect.