Virtual Reality-Based Interventions for Patients with Paranoia: A Systematic Review
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Paranoia is an important psychiatric symptom with a remarkable effect on daily life. Virtual reality (VR)-based treatments are influential and safe for patients with paranoia. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness, and define the clinical and technical characteristics of available VR strategies for the treatment of patients with paranoia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Studies published up to 25/11/2021 reporting VR-based interventions for the treatment of patients with paranoia were reviewed in five databases, including PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and Scopus. RESULTS: Out of 302 initial search results, eight were included in the present study based on the inclusion criteria. Six studies were randomized clinical trials with the interventions in the experimental group being based on VR, compared to routine interventions as controls. Two were before-after studies. The most commonly used hardware and software were head-mounted display and Unity3D, respectively. Interventions had a range of 1-16 sessions with follow-up durations of 0-6 months. All investigations showed positive results in the main target, including improved social participation, reduced level of anxiety, as well as diminished suspicious ideas and paranoid symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings demonstrated that VR-based interventions are effective treatments. Although the use of VR technology is limited for a variety of reasons, such as cost, it improves symptoms in patients with paranoia.
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Several VR interventions have recently been aimed at addressing mental health conditions and increasing the accessibility of mental health services.
“Several virtual reality (VR) interventions have recently been aimed at addressing mental health conditions and increasing the accessibility of mental health services to society [8,9,10,11,12,13].”
From Virtual Reality for Addressing Depression and Anxiety: A Bibliometric Analysis (2023) · cites this paper as [10]
The Introduction (page not specified) describes VR interventions for several psychiatric conditions, supporting the mental-health portion of the claim. It does not say these interventions aim to increase access to mental health services; the Discussion instead notes that equipment costs and a lack of specialists limit their use. (LLM, conf=0.85)
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Do Psychological Interventions Reduce Paranoia in Adolescents? A Systematic Review
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- Authors
- Monaghesh, E., Samad-Soltani, T., & Farhang, S.
- Affiliations
- Tabriz University of Medical Sciences (IR)
- University Medical Center Groningen (NL)
- Corresponding author
- Farhang, Sara
- Venue
- Psychiatry Research
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2022-01
- Volume
- 307
- Pages
- 114338
- ISSN
- 0165-1781 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4200560600
- Cited by
- 33
- References
- 44
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 3
- FWCI
- 0.61
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Psychiatry Research (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- University of Groningen research database (University of Groningen / Centre for Information Technology) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Funders
- Tabriz University of Medical Sciences
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Virtual Reality Applications and Impacts
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Schizophrenia research and treatment
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Digital Mental Health Interventions
- Keywords
- paranoia, virtual reality, treatment effectiveness, social participation (health and rehabilitation), anxiety reduction, head-mounted displays, Unity game engine
- MeSH terms
- Virtual Reality, Anxiety, Humans, Paranoid Disorders, Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy
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