Internet also heals

Internet and virtual reality enhance the fight against psychological disorders, from anorexia to stress postraumáticoUna dozen universities are working on new methods that incorporate Internet and virtual reality applications - in eating disorders like anorexia, the computer plays a key role in therapy

Much has been written about Internet addiction and video games, but much less than its benefits. Internet, video games and virtual reality heal. This reality has outpaced its major prospects and what seems the last frontier is its application to mental therapy. The combination of virtual reality more mobile devices are used by more advanced therapists to treat psychological disorders. There is already talk of moving telepsicología.
Half of the 1990s was published in a scientific journal for a patient to overcome his fear of heights after exposure to a virtual stage that played such situations. Since then, travel to parallel universes applied to exposure to phobia has developed steadily, expanding to multiple anxiety disorders, and even the treatment of various addictions, the Valencian Institute ludopatías.Los to Labhuman and are leading Labpsitec technological implementation of mental illnesses.


Virtual worlds come to applications for tough problems such as PTSD. "For these problems the world was developed within the EMMA project of the same name funded by the European Union," explains Garcia Palacios. "A flexible system is not predetermined, is a stage where we can make changes" the landscape, climate, and introduce elements-music, videos, images, narratives, sounds, to work with emotions. "

Therapy in these problems is to develop the trauma so that the person will incorporate his memories without causing intolerable discomfort. EMMA elements can symbolize these painful areas and working with them. This project went from using the virtual reality helmet to a big screen in which the patient no longer needs the helmet.

"Of course" says the researcher, "which is becoming more interested in how to help people when the therapist is not present. Have developed applications that the patient can self-administrate. It is mild solutions to psychological problems such as specific phobias-fear of public speaking, spiders, cockroaches or for which there are effective psychological treatments including assessment module validated instruments.

In more complicated situations does support face therapy. "The patient comes for consultation once a week and in the intersessional period of virtual reality therapy can perform tasks by connecting to a page, or receiving information via mobile."

ECare is giving good results especially with children and the elderly. "Our software allows an exploration Butler everyday user to detect elderly symptoms of anxiety and depression," says Esteban Anguita, of Labhuman.

"After the evaluation, the system decides recreational and therapeutic options for a particular patient and sends an alarm to the responsible therapist.

As for children, "our system Etiobe helps treat childhood obesity, which is often associated with serious physical and psychological. It supports mechanisms for maintaining self-control treatment reduced body weight and prevent relapses.
Therapeutic Games

It has applications for clinical staff designs a custom-action protocol, home-serves the child and its parents, which can be accessed from a PC to every development the therapist and through mobile devices, from the latter the child receives therapeutic advice that provides a virtual agent. "All our solutions are supported on the Internet or revolve around the network," says Anguita, who believes that development opportunities are enormous.

One of the last projects completed by LabHuman is Eldergames, in which several elderly practiced therapeutic play to explore their cognitive abilities. "The highlight of this project is that every old man was in a different country-Spain, England and Norway, and tables are kept interconnected through Internet. The immediate objective is to exploit the boom in social networking," finishes.