Virtual Reality Therapy for Social Phobia: A Scoping Review

Virtual reality (VR) has become an interesting alternative for the treatment of social phobia. This scoping review explored the impact of VR technologies in the treatment of social phobia (25 papers were included). Treatment approaches to social phobia included virtual reality exposure therapy, cognitive behaviour therapy, exposure group therapy, in vivo exposure therapy, and waiting list. VR was identified as the most successful approach, not only in improving social phobia, but also resulting in real life changes such as improvement in occupational success. VR Head Mounted Displays were used in most of studies (76%), followed by VR-based Specific Systems (24%). Although VR techniques indicated positive impact on patients to reduce their anxiety, it is paramount to consider variables such as the way therapists control the environment as well as individuals' characteristics for achieving the best outcome.