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Seeing Calm Scenes is Good. Being Calm is Even Better.
Why VR will change the game for anxiety management: A glimpse into why Meta matters
When anyone sends you a picture of a serene sunset or a video of a beautiful ocean, the effect can be instantly calming. So at Reulay, we wondered, what could be better? Having run the Outpatient Anxiety Disorders Program at McLean Hospital—Harvard’s largest freestanding psychiatric hospital—I knew that telling people to calm down or instructing them with cognitive techniques had limited value. Up until now, therapy for anxiety disorders, stress, and burnout involved an effortful application of cognitive techniques, or the passive observation of some calming scene, but with virtual reality (VR), we have a chance to advance the path toward stress well-managed because VR offers an entirely new medium and experience called immersion that is a unique and complimentary addition to your stress management toolbox. As a result of immersion, VR can offer the experience of “embodiment.”
What is embodiment? Embodiment is a concept that refers to the fact that the body is a vital part of our intelligence. Just as thinking, feeling and socializing all contribute to our intelligence, the experience of the body is an intelligence that can be tapped. It’s not just that the body sends signals to the brain. Rather, the body plays an active part in how we think…
