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Review of Virtual Reality Treatment in Psychiatry: Evidence Versus Current Diffusion and Use
Abstract
Purpose of review This review provides an overview of the current evidence base for and clinical applications of the use of virtual reality (VR) in psychiatric practice, in context of recent technological developments.Recent findings The use of VR in psychiatric practice shows promise with much of the research demonstrating clinical effectiveness for conditions including post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and phobias, chronic pain, rehabilitation, and addictions. However, more research is needed before the use of VR is considered a clinical standard of practice in some areas. The recent release of first generation consumer VR products signals a change in the viability of further developing VR systems and applications. As applications increase so will the need for good quality research to best understand what makes VR effective, and when VR is not appropriate for clinical services. As the field progresses, it is hopeful that the flexibility afforded by this technology will yield superior outcomes and a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms impacting those outcomes.
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“Numerous studies have integrated VR with various psychotherapies, and their effectiveness and safety have been preliminarily validated (16–18).”
From A virtual reality-based self-guided training on identification of negative automatic thoughts in healthy adults: a mixed-methods feasibility study (2024) · cites this paper as [18]
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Nicholls, T. L., Butler, A., Kendrick‐Koch, L., Brink, J., Jones, R. M., & Simpson, A. I. F. (2018) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-00452-1_2 · Cited by 11
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Williams, J. L., Langley, S., & Borda, A. (2021) · Virtual Creativity · doi:10.1386/vcr_00046_1 · Cited by 9
The Walking Wounded: Emerging Treatments for PTSD
Bestha, D. P., Soliman, L., Blankenship, K. M., & Rachal, J. (2018) · Current Psychiatry Reports · doi:10.1007/s11920-018-0941-8 · Cited by 12
Silva, R., de Carvalho, D. C. M., Martins, P., & Rocha, T. (2022) · International Conference on Software Development and Technologies for Enhancing Accessibility and Fighting Info-exclusion (DSAI) · doi:10.1145/3563137.3563171 · Cited by 12
“A VR system could be available such as Head Mounted Displays (HMD), head and body tracking devices and CAVE (Cave Automatic Virtual Environment), creating the feeling of immersion in a virtual world [14].”
MethodVlake, J. H., van Bommel, J., Wils, E., Korevaar, T. I. M., Taccone, F. S., Schut, A. F., Elderman, J. H., Labout, J. A. M., Raben, A., Dijkstra, A., et al. (2022) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2022-061876 · Cited by 11
Papini, S., Young, C. C., Gebhardt, C. S., Perrone, A., Morikawa, H., Otto, M. W., Roache, J. D., & Smits, J. A. J. (2020) · Contemporary Clinical Trials · doi:10.1016/j.cct.2020.106013 · Cited by 9
Karami, B., Koushki, R., Arabgol, F., Rahmani, M., & Vahabie, A. (2020) · PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/s2jvy · Cited by 11
Virtual Environment for VR-Based Stress Therapy System Design Element: User Perspective
Zaharuddin, F. A., Ibrahim, N., Yusof, A. M., Rusli, M. E., & Mahidin, E. M. M. (2019) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-34032-2_3 · Cited by 8
Li, L., Zhu, X., Wan, S., Wang, L., Pan, L., Peng, S., & Chen, J. (2025) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-025-08224-7 · Cited by 7
Kundi, G. M. (2023) · Open Access Public Health and Health Administration Review · doi:10.59644/oapr.1(1).2022.10 · Cited by 7
A Virtual Reality Approach to Overcome Glossophobia among University Students
Balachandran, A., Vohra, P., & Srivastava, A. (2024) · Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction · doi:10.1145/3698141 · Cited by 6
“Virtual reality (VR) is a computer-generated interface having interactive environments to provide an immersive experience to individuals [36].”
Social cognition training using virtual reality for people with schizophrenia: a scoping review
Pérez-Ferrara, D., Flores-Medina, Y., Landa-Ramírez, É., Sánchez, D. J. G., Luna-Padilla, J. A., Sosa-Millán, A. L., & Mondragón‐Maya, A. (2024) · Virtual Reality · doi:10.1007/s10055-024-01010-2 · Cited by 9
“In addition, as VR becomes more accessible, affordable, and more widely 1 3 researched, owing to continual technological advancements, it will ultimately be well positioned as a home-based treatment approach (Bohil et al. 2011 ; Mishkind et al. 2017 ; Turner and Casey 2014).”
Elbasha, A. M., Naga, Y. S., Othman, M., Moussa, N. D., & El-Wakil, H. S. (2022) · Alexandria Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1080/20905068.2021.2024349 · Cited by 8
“Artificial neural network has been widely used in many medical fields including computer-aided surgery operation navigation systems [14], virtual tools for surgery [14], pain management, and psychiatric disorders [15].”
MethodFactors to Consider When Designing a Virtual Environment to Treat Stress
Zaharuddin, F. A., Ibrahim, N., Rusli, M. E., Mahidin, E. M. M., & Yusof, A. M. (2019) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-34032-2_4 · Cited by 5
Wang, X., Qu, J., Bu, L., & Zhu, S. (2025) · IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics · doi:10.1109/tvcg.2025.3549581 · Cited by 4
“VR can reduce physical pain by immersing patients in virtual environments [43].”
Evaluación neuropsicológica y realidad virtual: una revisión sistemática
Reyes, A. C. D., & López, J. V. S. (2023) · Informes Psicológicos · doi:10.18566/infpsic.v23n1a07 · Cited by 4
Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy
Turman, M. L., Olden, M., Emrich, M., & Difede, J. (2024) · CBT: science into practice · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-72720-7_4 · Cited by 5
Noh, H., Chishti, S. M. K., Jo, H., Newhouse, N., Kim, S., Kleek, M. G. V., & Kang, Y. (2025) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3706598.3713387 · Cited by 6
“As AR technologies become more widely available, there will be a growing need for good quality training and research to understand what makes AR effective, for whom, and in what contexts it is appropriate for clinical use [77].”
Zheng, Y., Kong, L., Xue, J., Wei, X., Zhu, T., Mao, X., & Zhang, Q. (2025) · Journal of Back and Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation · doi:10.1177/10538127251321140 · Cited by 4
Munir, F., Chopra, H., Nasir, M. H., Simhachalam, L. V., Anis, Z. B., Bano, S., Islam, N., Baig, A. A., Heyat, M. B. B., Parveen, S., et al. (2025) · International Journal of Systems Assurance Engineering and Management · doi:10.1007/s13198-025-02801-9 · Cited by 6
“Many different electronic devices, like surgical navigation systems for computer-assisted surgery (Tepper et al. 2017), virtual-reality continuum tools for surgery, pain management, mental diseases, and AI-based technologies, enable augmented medicine (Sheikh et al. 2021; Mishkind et al. 2017).”
Intawong, K., Homla, P., Wongwan, N., Niemsup, S., Worragin, P., Langgapin, S., & Puritat, K. (2025) · SAGE Open · doi:10.1177/21582440251341985 · Cited by 3
“Recent years have seen the emergence of virtual reality (VR) technology as a promising tool in various fields, including healthcare (Orlosky et al., 2017), surgical training (Pulijala et al., 2018), and psychiatry (Mishkind et al., 2017).”
Goharinejad, S., Goharinezhad, S., Moulaei, K., Krüger, B., & Spittler, T. (2026) · INQUIRY The Journal of Health Care Organization Provision and Financing · doi:10.1177/00469580251413101 · Cited by 3
“51,58 The moderate heterogeneity observed ( I 2 = 46.28”
InfluentialMcIntyre, J., McLinden, J., Borgheai, S. B., & Shahriari, Y. (2023) · International IEEE/EMBS Conference on Neural Engineering · doi:10.1109/ner52421.2023.10123834 · Cited by 3
“The literature shows that VR can be used as a therapeutic tool in many neurological disorders [6].”
BackgroundZhang, J. (2025) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1626476 · Cited by 3
Unmet Needs in Modern Psychiatric Practice
Sampogna, G., Luciano, M., Vecchio, V. D., Giallonardo, V., Pocai, B., Pompili, M., & Fiorillo, A. (2020) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-42637-8_1 · Cited by 3
Horigome, T., Yoshida, S., Tanikawa, T., Mimura, M., & Kishimoto, T. (2023) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1030050 · Cited by 5
“The development of virtual reality (VR) exposure therapy (VRET) for anxiety disorders has recently been attempted (Mishkind et al., 2017).”
BackgroundThe Pandemic of Invisible Victims in American Mental Health
Appel, J. M. (2024) · The Hastings Center Report · doi:10.1002/hast.1573 · Cited by 3
Yang, B., Liao, C., Yang, Y., Shi, B., Zhang, C., & Li, C. (2024) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1479207 · Cited by 2
“Numerous studies have integrated VR with various psychotherapies, and their effectiveness and safety have been preliminarily validated (16 – 18).”
The Development of Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET) for Young Adults in Russia and Indonesia
Hidayat, B., Leybina, A. V., Raudah, S. F., Iskandar, W., Malik, A., Shanty, I. L., & Suhada, D. (2025) · The Open Psychology Journal · doi:10.2174/0118743501387878250616095512 · Cited by 2
Metadata
- Authors
- Mishkind, M. C., Norr, A. M., Katz, A. C., & Reger, G. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Colorado Anschutz (US)
- VA Puget Sound Health Care System (US)
- University of Washington (US)
- Corresponding author
- Mishkind, Matthew C.
- Venue
- Current Psychiatry Reports
- Published
- 2017-09-18
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 11
- Pages
- 80-80
- ISSN
- 1523-3812 (ISSN-L)
- 1535-1645
- OpenAlex
- W2754266853
- Cited by
- 136
- References
- 74
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 22 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 10
- FWCI
- 1.15
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Current Psychiatry Reports (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Virtual Reality Applications and Impacts
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Digital Mental Health Interventions
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
- Keywords
- virtual reality, virtual reality therapy, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorders, phobia, chronic pain, rehabilitation, addiction treatment, clinical effectiveness
- MeSH terms
- Mental Disorders, Humans, Psychiatry, Treatment Outcome, Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy
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