None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Agoraphobia, a quite common anxiety disorder in Australia, is defined as the fear of being in places or situations from which escape might be difficult or embarrassing. Standard exposure therapy is not bereft of weaknesses. Hence, new research lines study the virtual reality exposure therapy. Virtual reality allows patients to interact in real time 3D computerized worlds. The project will include a sample of volunteered patients suffering from agoraphobia who will be exposed to virtual environments specifically created for the present study using an affordable game editor. This collaborative effort’s goal is finally to search for a better understanding of agoraphobia innovative treatment and to discover presence objective measure instruments.
Interventions
Treatment of agoraphobia by using virtual reality exposure and cognitive therapy. Virtual reality exposure involves the confrontation of the agoraphobics with 3D real time computerized phobogenic situations. Cognitive therapy implies the use of cognitive therapy techniques (cognitive restructuring). Both are administered by a PhD student in clinical psychology.
Protocol :
1 weekly session of 1 and a half hour for 2 and a half month (total 10 sessions : 2 of cognitive and 8 of virtual reality e
Treatment of agoraphobia by using virtual reality exposure and cognitive therapy. Virtual reality exposure involves the confrontation of the agoraphobics with 3D real time computerized phobogenic situations. Cognitive therapy implies the use of cognitive therapy techniques (cognitive restructuring). Both are administered by a PhD student in clinical psychology. Protocol : 1 weekly session of 1 and a half hour for 2 and a half month (total 10 sessions : 2 of cognitive and 8 of virtual reality exposure)
Sponsors
Macquarie University (Psychology Dpt)
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Blinded (masking used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to 100 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Diagnosis of Agoraphobia with or without Panic disorder
Exclusion criteria
pregnancy, epilepsy, severe organic condition, Heart arrhythmia, vestibular syndrome, substance abuse, discontinuation in the psychiatric treatment, psychosis (schizoid or not schizoid) and absence of competence in use of English
Outcome results
None listed