Managing social anxiety disorder in adults : virtual reality exposure therapy versus in-vivo exposure therapy

Abstract

An individual who suffers from social anxiety disorder overestimates the intimidation of public criticism or embarrassment. Such individuals also portray distorted images of how the public view them. The golden treatment for social anxiety disorder is in-vivo exposure therapy, however with the advancements of technology, a new innovate version of such treatment has been developed, namely, virtual reality exposure therapy. The research question reads: Is virtual reality exposure therapy more effective than invivo exposure therapy in the management of social anxiety disorder in adults? The PICO elements consist of: Adults suffering from social anxiety disorder as the population, virtual reality exposure therapy as the intervention, in-vivo exposure therapy as the comparison and the outcome is reduction in anxiety and the improvement of social interaction. The inclusion criteria consist of peer reviewed studies on adults diagnosed with social anxiety disorder, published in the last ten years, in the English language, and not restricted to any geographical region. The exclusion criteria included non-English studies, non-peer reviewed studies and studies published earlier than 10 years ago. After retrieving relevant research, the CASP tools were utilised to evaluate and critique both randomised control trials, meta-analysis and systematic review identified in this dissertation. Results report that VRET is as effective as in-vivo exposure therapy in the management of social anxiety disorder. Although not yet the ‘go to’ treatment mainly due to VRET being still in its infancy and still requiring development and further research, VRET has so far reported positive results.